Alpha Force: Eruption
by Elledreamer
Summary: Alpha Force are helping out in a small town in Columbia, home to an active volcano. But then the tremors start, and suddenly, nothing matters, except getting out alive...
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything you may recognise. This applies to the entire fic**

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Chapter 1

"I'm bored". Amber Middleton slowly sat up and slipped a large T-Shirt over her bikini and beautifully bronzed black skin. Next to her, Anglo - Chinese Li opened one eye half-heartedly.

"Oh Amber" she muttered, "I thought you loved sunbathing"

"I do," protested Amber, now slipping on her flip-flops. " But I want to do something together, we don't see each other much now, and we're wasting our time sunbathing".

Li grinned. Amber was speaking the truth. This was the first time Alpha Force had met up in a while, on Paulo's ranch in Argentina. They hadn't had a mission in ages. And, since the incident on the island they had been extremely close to one another.

Li stood up too.

"OK" she said, "Let's get the boys". Both girls peered down next to where Li was lying. Paulo was sprawled out, snoring gently. Amber giggled.

"Awwww" smiled Li "So sweet". She turned to Amber with a glint in her eye, "Let's wake him up!" She smiled wickedly

"What do you have in mind?" Amber said tilting her head

"Oh I'll think of something, you go and get Alex and Hex, I'll deal with Paulo". Amber walked off, a little reluctantly, she wondered what Li had in store, but she went in anyway.

She arrived in the cool interior of the lobby, and after the brightness of the sun outside it took her eyes a little while to adjust. She peered around. She couldn't see the boys anywhere. Both coming from England, neither of them had jumped at the prospect of lying in the scorching sun for hours on end, preferring cooler weather.

She heard a shout from upstairs. Amber trotted up the stairs that led up from the lobby. She came into a large room, filled with things like dartboards and pool tables. This was the part of the ranch where guests could come and spend their free time, in between riding lessons and trips.

Alex and Hex were at a table tennis table, and judging by the looks on the boy's faces, Alex had just beaten Hex.

Amber walked up.

"What's the score?" she asked, leaning on the table. Alex suppressed a grin, he didn't show off, or try to make out he was better or anything, but he still looked pleased.

"One game each" he said, "Want to sit in on the decider?"

"Actually" said Amber standing up "I was hoping that we could go and do something together".

"Like what?" frowned Hex, his green eyes squinting

Amber shrugged.

"Dunno. But there's no point in hanging around like this all day. We're a team, a _force_. We should be doing something, not just sunbathing and having tennis matches." She looked at Alex, "Come on!" Alex grinned and nodded

"Okay" he said, his Northumbrian accent coming through "Call it a draw eh Hex?"

"Yeh I spose" mumbled Hex. He looked at Amber "Where are the other two? Probably flirting again no doubt".

"They're outside" answered Amber "Come on".

The three of them made their way back outside, to find Li and Paulo in the middle of a full-blown water fight.

"What's going on?" laughed Hex ducking as the water came his way. Li, who ran past holding a hosepipe glanced at them innocently.

"I just woke him up!" Paulo, soaking wet, who had a bucket full of water glared at her jokingly

"I do not call soaking me waking me up!" He chucked another load of water at Li, but miss aimed and ended up covering – Amber.

Paulo and Li froze. Amber just shook her head, and then looked up, grinning. She grabbed the hosepipe from Li and chased after Paulo.

Hex getting in on the fun grabbed another bucket and joined in.

Soon it developed into a full-scale water fight, even the drawn back Alex joining in and two natural teams formed. Girls verses boys.

After a while, when most of the water had been sucked up greedily by the sandy ground, they calmed down and went inside to get dry. After showering and changing, they met up in Alex and Hex's room, in the guest quarters.

"Well I guessed we found something to do," sighed Li. Her long black hair was down, and still wet, making it shine. Paulo sat next to her.

"You did start it though," he laughed, patting her arm.

Amber, on the bed rolled her eyes.

"So what now?" She asked. Alex looked at Hex.

"Do you have your palmtop?" Hex grinned

"Of course, as always", he slipped out the small black computer from its case on his belt. "Why?"

"Why don't you e-mail John and see if anything's come up?"

Hex, without questioning began to load up the palmtop, his fingers flying across the keys. Amber sighed

"Alex we e-mailed my uncle just a few days ago, there was nothing then anyway. I really don't think that…"

"Got something" Hex cut her off. Amber did a double take.

"What? But…" She glared at Alex. "How did you know?" He shrugged.

"Instinct". Amber rolled her eyes

"Oh you and your stupid survival instincts!" She grinned at Alex to show she was joking, although knowing each other so well Alex already knew.

"So" said Li leaning forward. "What've you got Hex?" He turned and looked at them all.

"We're going to be helping some scientists do some research, they're short on staff at the moment, and from what John says, it could prove vital in future research"

"So what type of scientists are they?" asked Amber. Hex turned and grinned

"Vulcanologists". Amber's eyes grew wide, and Alex's eyebrows rose.

"Volcanoes? Wow!" said Li.

"So where will we be going?" asked Paulo. There was a slight pause before Hex continued.

"Columbia".


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Alex tossed his trousers into the suitcase and started searching for his boots. After hearing about their new mission, Alpha Force had immediately jetted off to their homes across the globe to pack things they would need, seeing as the majority of their things had been holiday items.

His boots were in the back of his wardrobe. Alex reached in a pulled them out. He hadn't used these boots in ages. It was about time he got them out. For some reason they reminded him of the time Amber had got her boot stuck in the lake when they had been helping out for a game show in Australia. Alex grinned to himself. He was looking forward to the trip; he loved any chance to work with his friends.

He had finished packing. Alex fastened his bag and picked it up. As he took it downstairs a thought hit him. He dumped the bag and ran back upstairs. On his bedside table was his survival kit. Alex couldn't believe that he'd nearly forgotten it. He scooped up the tobacco tin and pushed it into the pouch on his belt. He'd never go anywhere without his survival kit, it had saved Alpha Force's lives on more than one occasion. After making sure he had his knife also tucked into his belt, Alex set off downstairs.

There was no one to say goodbye to. Alex's father was off working with the SAS, and his mother was on a retreat in France. Alex got to the front door and picked his plane ticket up from the coffee table. The phone rang.

Alex frowned. Who could be calling him? Neither of his parents was going to be in touch with him, and Alpha Force didn't usually talk by phone. Alex supposed it could be one of his friends from school, but he didn't really meet them much.

The, urging ring brought Alex back to reality. He dumped his rucksack on the floor and went to pick up the phone.

"Hello?" he asked. A strange, cold voice was on the other end.

"Hello? Is that Alex?" the voice asked.

"Yeh" said Alex, still bemused "What do you want?"

"Your dad's in the SAS?"

"Yeh, what's wrong? Is he ok?" Alex was starting to get worried.

"I'm afraid I've got some bad news…"

The shrill ringing pierced Amber's dream suddenly. For a moment she didn't know where she was. She opened her eyes quickly. Balloons and crocodiles were still drifting about in her mind. It had been a weird dream. She screwed her eyes back shut and stuck her head under the pillow in an attempt to block out the noise. Three seconds later she heard the shouting of the housekeeper Roseanne.

"Amber! Phone call!" She shouted. Amber sighed and called back

"Take a message!" She was far too warm to even think about venturing out into the barren coldness that was her room, and the vast draughty hall where the phone was. Another pause

"They say it's urgent!"

Amber groaned and finally admitted defeat. She crawled out of bed and slipped her slippers and dressing gown on. As she did she caught a glimpse of the clock. It said it was ten past six. Amber frowned. None of her friends ever called this early. Plus she'd told them all she was going away… Unless it was someone saying goodbye… In which case they were going to get an earful from Amber. No one wakes her up this early and gets away with it easily.

She trooped down the stairs to find Roseanne standing holding the phone.

"Who is it?" asked Amber as she walked over. Roseanne shrugged

"Don't know, I think it's one of your friends from that team thing? Well he was certainly English anyway… You don't know anyone else English do you?"

Amber was suddenly worried. Why would Hex, or Alex call her? They always used e-mail to keep in contact. They never rang, especially not to other countries. It cost too much and the time differences complicated things. Something must be wrong thought Amber. Unless it was Hex teasing her again. She'd never forget that.

"Amber?" Roseanne's voice brought her back to reality. Amber looked up. Roseanne shook the phone "Come on" she said. Amber silently took the phone off her.

"Hex?" she asked speaking into the mouthpiece.

"Amber!" said a voice. Amber frowned. Not Hex, it was a Northumbrian accent. Alex.

"Alex what's wrong?" she asked

"Amber I didn't know what to do, it's really bad, I don't know what to do". Amber frowned again. This was bad. Alex was never like this… He was the sensible one. He always kept his temper and everything. She'd never heard him like this before…

"Alex calm down what's happened?"

"I called Hex first" he said, "He said you'd know what to do". Amber silently thanked Hex under her breath, promising to get back at him. But she concentrated on the matter in hand.

"Alex please, tell me what's wrong, it'll be all right".

"It's my dad," said Alex quietly. His voice was hushed "He's been shot".


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Rain scuttered down the window outside and drummed noisily on the roof. Paulo leaned back in the uncomfortable upholstered chair. He glanced across the room to where Alex was sat, staring blankly into space. Li was sat next to him, her hand awkwardly placed on his arm. Hex was next to Paulo, in the corner typing silently on his palmtop.

As soon as Amber had contacted him about Alex's horrible situation, Paulo had immediately agreed to over to England with her, as had Hex and Li. They had all decided unanimously to come over and support Alex and to be there for him. Especially as there was no one else for him to be with. From what Paulo had already seen it looked as though Alex needed it. When Amber had told Paulo about Alex's unfamiliar behaviour on the phone Paulo had been unsure of what to expect. Now he saw what Amber meant. Alex was obviously torn apart by what had happened. He was hardly speaking, too quiet even for Alex and he made agitated movements, wringing his hands. His face though, was blank. It was terrible seeing Alex like this. It was such different behaviour that no one really knew what to do.

The billowing silence was broken by the sound of the door squeaking open. Alex stood up suddenly, his eyes wide, obviously hoping for news of his dad. It was Amber. She walked in bringing a flurry of raindrops with her. Several went over Hex's palmtop. Usually Hex would complain at Amber, but it wasn't the time. Paulo saw Alex's face fall, but he put on a brave face.

"Hi Amber" he said dully "Thanks for coming, you know, you really didn't have to"

"It's nothing" Amber insisted gently, draping her soaked pink raincoat over the radiator next to Hex.

"How is he?" she asked looking at them all. Alex sat down again

"I don't know yet, they won't let me see him. Something to do with SAS confidentiality ". Amber's face was aghast.

"What? He's your _father_!" she sighed, "How long have you been here?"

"Since I called you," said Alex bleakly.

"What?" Amber exclaimed again, looking at her watch "Five hours! That's ridiculous!" Alex's face remained blank. Amber put her hands on her hips.

"Right, I'm going to find out what's happened, come on Hex". Amber headed out if the room, dragging Hex by his arm along with her.

Li was still sat next to Alex.

"Did you get through to your mum?" she asked. Alex shook his head.

"No she's on a survival retreat. Strictly no phones." A small smile appeared on his face. "She said she wanted to be more like me and dad. Catch up on knowledge." He shook his head slowly "Bet she's hating it". He glanced across at Paulo and his smile fell. "If she knew…"

Paulo came and sat down next to Alex.

"Your dad will be ok Alex, these are good doctors."

"Yeah, it's just…" Alex sighed, "I never thought anything like this would ever to my dad. Stupid really, being in the SAS…" Li threw Alex a sympathetic glance.

"No one ever does Alex. We always think it will happen to someone else. Amber was telling me how she felt like that. When her parents…" she trailed off, unsure of how to continue.

After Li's small speech everyone fell silent. This was big thought Paulo. This had shaken Alex. It was terrible. Alex was incredibly close to his father, and talked about him in admiration. He was in awe of him. Paulo remembered the time when Alex's father had helped to save them from a drug dealer in Ecuador. Li was right. You never expected accidents to happen to people you know… It was a bit stupid really, especially being in Alpha Force, but it never occurred to Paulo it would happen to someone like Alex's dad. He always seemed strong. Paulo sighed. It was so complicated. And hard he thought looking at Alex.

He glanced at Li. Her eyes were glazed with concern and she was twirling her plait nervously between her fingers. Suddenly she sat up.

"I know" she said, "Let's play a game". Paulo shot Li a questioning glance. It wasn't the best time to be starting games…

"How about 'I-Spy?" said Li "Paulo?"

"I…"

"Alex?" Alex looked at them for a second. Then a small smile broke out on his face.

"Yeah ok". It seemed to Paulo that a normal, simple game was just the thing to take Alex's mind of more pressing matters.

"Okay" he said, "I spy with my little eye something beginning with T…"

Hex glanced around the waiting room. In the corner a little girl with her arm in plaster played noisily with a semi-naked doll. An old man sat next to her had his head screwed up in annoyance and was muttering under his breath.

"Hello how may I help you?" said a simpering voice from behind him. Hex turned around. A receptionist was stood behind the desk, her eyebrows raised in question. She had short, blonde hair pinned up on the back of her head. She was plastered with make-up and was chewing gum. A gold letter 'C' dangled from a chain around her neck. Judging by the expression on the receptionist's face she didn't really want to be there.

Amber smiled friendlily at the girl.

"Yes, my friend's dad was brought in a while ago and he still hasn't heard anything about him, please could you tell me how he is?"

"You related to the patient?" the receptionist asked

"No but-" Amber started.

"Then I can't disclose any information to you sorry," the receptionist said, sounding as though she wasn't sorry at all.

"Please" said Amber "I just want to pass it on to my friend, I know them well…"

"If you're not related to the patient I can't tell you". Hex could tell that Amber was starting to get frustrated.

"Look" she said her voice rising "My friend's been here five hours, and he's not heard anything, what kind of service is that?" The receptionist shrugged

"Hospital policy states-"

"I don't care what hospital policy says" Amber interrupted "I think my friend has a right to know what has happened to his dad!"

"Amber" Hex said placing his hand on Amber's arm

"Hex! Alex deserves to know!" Amber insisted.

"I know but" Hex jerked his head to the side.

A tall doctor was stood there. He had greying hair and an amused expression on his face.

"Excuse me, maybe I can help?" he said to them. He turned to the receptionist. "Thank you Cassy, I'll take it from here" The receptionist nodded sullenly. The doctor turned back to Amber and Hex.

"Are you talking about Alex Craig? Only he mentioned his American friend was coming".

"Yes!" Amber said insistently "Do you know anything about his dad?"

Alpha Force sat together in the relatives' room looking up at the doctor. Alex's eyes were wide and yearning.

"Right, I'm Doctor Peterson and I've been treating your dad Alex. The news is, is that your dad is hooked up to a monitor. The bullet hit his heart and caused internal bleeding. It's most probable he'll need an operation. The bad news is that he isn't waking up. There's a chance he could be in a coma". Li notice that the doctor talked directly to Alex, keeping eye contact, making him feel more comfortable. It was also nice to see she thought that he wasn't treating Alex like a child as many doctors do.

"Is he going to be ok?" Alex asked, his voice trembling. The doctor grimaced

"At this stage, it's impossible to say. I'm sorry".

Alex's head dropped into his hands.

Li looked at the doctor

"Thank you" she said quietly. The doctor nodded and left. Amber knelt down next to Alex and placed a hand on his back.

"Alex…?" she said. Alex looked up suddenly. His face was pale, his eyes wide.

"I'm going to take a walk," he said standing up.

"You want anyone to come with you?" Li asked. Alex shook his head

"No that's ok, I just need some time to think" he walked past them and left the room quickly.

Amber looked at the others, desperation on her face.

"What are we going to do?" she asked sadly. Hex looked at them, his face set.

"Well I'm going to stay here with Alex, he needs someone around".

"I will too" said Paulo.

"Yeah" continued Li "We all will". Amber nodded in agreement.

"He looks so lost doesn't he?" Li carried on. "I can't imagine what he's going through".

"I can," said Amber simply. The others all looked at her. Although Amber never suppressed her parent's death, the group tended not to bring it up too often. Even though Alpha Force had been born out of the work Amber's parents had done, it was still a sore subject for her. A long silence followed.

Hex finally broke the silence.

"I should contact your uncle Amber, tell him we can't do the mission".

"Yeah I suppose…" Amber trailed off. Alex was stood in the doorway

"No" he said. Li frowned. Alex seemed different, no not different,_ normal_. He was stood up straight, his face still. And he talked with a determined tone in his face. It was almost as if he was back to his usual self. This was the usual Alex.

"Alex what do you mean?" asked Paulo.

"Don't send the e-mail Hex, we're going". Hex's mouth was slightly open. He was puzzled, unsure of what to do next.

"Alex are you sure? Your dad…" asked Amber

"My dad's not going anywhere" Alex said "And we're not doing any good sitting around like this". The others were frowning at him. Alex gave a small half smile. "My dad would want me to go and help people, help him do his work, not sit around depressed. So I want to go and do some good, like my dad would want." Alpha Force still sat looking at him. They knew they'd never convince Alex otherwise. He was set. They could tell. His grey eyes were shining with determination.

A large grin slowly appeared on Amber's face, Hex was nodding and Li leapt up ready for action. Paulo came and stood next to Alex. He patted Alex's back.

"Well if you're sure amigo, then let's go".

"Yeah let's do this" Li said, joining them. A grin appeared on Hex's face. He opened his palmtop.

"Mission on" he said.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Hex leaned back in his seat and felt the wind in his face, letting it cool him down. Around him sparse vegetation reached up hungrily to get their share of the sunlight and along the side of the road a glittering river wound its way along, weaving elegantly between the trees.

Six hours earlier Alpha Force had left the aeroplane at the airport in Bogotá. A bustling town full of eager traders shouting across the crowd's heads had greeted them. Stalls of bright cloths and exquisite jewellery, detailed hand crafted wooden figurines and strange looking foods littered the streets. Alpha Force found it hard to tear their eyes away but they had a long journey by car ahead of them before they reached the small tourist town of Purace. Home to the volcano they were going to be studying.

Hex leaned forward

"Okay Paulo?" he asked, shouting over the sound of the wind. Paulo gave a quick thumbs up in reply to Hex's question before returning his full attention to the winding road in front of him. In Bogotá they had rented an open topped range rover to take to Purace and to use for the rest of their trip. They had decided to divide the driving into shifts since the journey was so long. Paulo had happily volunteered to do the majority of it, which made sense, as he was the most professional driver of them all. Plus he loved vehicles, tinkering and fiddling with them whenever he got a chance.

Amber was in the front next to Paulo. She had the map and was navigating for them. Alex was in the back next to Hex, dozing, having just taken a shift at driving before their short stop at the town of Girado. Li was looking around her, a broad grin on her face, revelling in the scenery around her. There were very few buildings around this area and the scenery was breathtaking. Li obviously loved it.

The sun was slowly setting. As they drove along the sun flickered jerkily through the branches of trees. Hex closed his eyes and felt the rapid changes in heat and light on his eyelids. Orange, yellow then black. It would take another three hours to reach Purace, but the journey was far from boring. Apart from the stunning scenery there was a multitude of other things to look at. There were several other vehicles on the road apart from theirs, of all different types and with a wide range of people driving them. It was a lot different to the last time they had visited South America, to Ecuador. Thoughts of that trip brought back memories for Hex of streets, brick buildings stretching up to they sky and wide eyed, dirty street children begging for food.

Li noticed Hex's smile.

"What're you so happy about?" she asked.

"Just remembering," said Hex "Last time we were here, and our other trips". Li grinned too and tossed her long hair out of her face.

"Yeh it's great, do you remember when-".

Li was cut off by a sudden roar. Hex looked up too see what was going on. Amber had turned around in her seat. She was frowning

"What on earth was that?" she asked. Alex who had been woken up by the intrusive sound was looking around. He turned around. After a couple of seconds he turned back and leant forward to talk to Paulo.

"Paulo, pull over" he said "Quickly". Paulo didn't hesitate and indicated immediately. The roaring sound was growing louder. Hex soon realised that it was an engine. He heard Li sigh and tut:

"Well really" He turned.

Driving up along the road and easily doing one hundred miles an hour was a small car, it was being closely tailed by a dusty, green motorbike, which seemed to be trying to match it's speed. Great clouds of dust enveloped the other vehicles as the racing duo weaved in between them. The two got closer and closer to Alpha Force. Many other cars had stopped too and pulled over, eager to let the danger pass. A large van had stopped a little way behind Alpha Force's car, still on the road.

Hex looked at the others. Alex and Li were both watching what was happening. Paulo merely faced the front and ignored the distraction. Amber was kneeling up on her seat to see and had her hands over her ears; her face was screwed up in annoyance.

"Idiots" she mouthed at Hex, scowling. Hex grinned and turned to look. That's when disaster struck.

The motorbike was coming up the middle of the road. Hex could see the driver. He wasn't even wearing a helmet. His bike wasn't in the best condition either. He then saw the driver's mistake. The man turned around to see how far ahead of the car he was. His motorbike swerved. He was knocked off course and it veered dangerously towards the van behind. The van was oblivious to the danger; the driver was sat back in his seat. Eating a sandwich.

Hex noticed and lent forward into the front. He placed his hand hard on the horn. The shill sound broke through that of the engines. The driver of the van looked up. He saw the motorbike coming up. It was almost at him. Instinctively, it seemed, he slammed his foot down on the accelerator. The van shot forward. Straight into Alpha Force.

Paulo saw the danger a second to late. The van ploughed into them. Hex could see the driver's shocked and frightened face as he tried to gain control of his vehicle. Alpha Force's range rover was knocked sideways. There was a steep drop down to the banks of the river next to the road. The range rover toppled down the embankment and tumbled over into the murky river.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Amber was suddenly oblivious to the rest of the world around her. All she was aware of was the muddy cloud that filled every inch of her vision. Pieces of grit and silt rushed and swirled around her. They were oddly hypnotising. Amber was only drawn out of the strange feeling with her sudden desire for air. Her legs automatically kicked to make her body get to the surface. But it wasn't working. Amber looked down. Of course, she was still strapped in. She reached her hands down and groped around to find the clasp to her seatbelt. A shadow to her left distracted her, but she only allowed it a brief instinctive glance before returning her attention to her own peril. She fumbled with the seatbelt, desperately trying to get herself free.

Suddenly she felt her body float upwards and she immediately started kicking to the surface. She was in desperate need for air now but she could see the surface. A rippling of light amidst the gloom.

The sudden light and noise burst through at Amber suddenly. She took a desperate gulp of air. It felt wonderful. She squinted in the harsh light and could see vague shapes and figures on the nearby bank. Where were the others?

Still breathing heavily she turned around in the water, looking desperately for any sign of her friends. Were they still trapped in the range rover? She was about to consider going back under the water to look but something to her right grabbed her attention. Someone was swimming towards her. She couldn't quite tell who it was because her eyes still weren't great.

The person reached her.

"Amber" said a voice, a little out of breath. "Amber it's ok". Amber could tell immediately that it was Alex. That was good. Alex was safe. But what about the others?

"Alex" she breathed, accidentally swallowing a little river water. It tasted horrible. But Amber ignored it. "Alex, the others…" she turned round again, looking for another sign of them. She felt Alex's strong arms on hers. It was reassuring.

"Come on let's get to the bank" said Alex. She let him guide her towards the side and quickly felt earth beneath her feet.

Amber stumbled up to the bank, Alex close behind her. She glanced around worriedly. Where were they? Hex, Paulo and Li? Why hadn't she seen them yet? As soon as she felt the water drift away from her ankles then Amber put on a spurt and ran up the bank and along the river, looking for any sign…

There was a sudden noise to her right. She turned, and much to her immense relief saw Hex pulling himself out of the water.

"Hex" she called "Hex have you seen the others?" Hex shook his dripping head.

"I haven't, I thought I saw Alex…" he gasped.

"Alex is over there". Amber gestured with her head.

Alex was now waist high in the river again, searching desperately in the water, his grey eyes darting about the surface of the water. All of a sudden he seemed to notice something, took several deep breaths and then dived under the surface.

Amber's eyes widened. How long could Paulo and Li last without air?

"Amber?" Hex asked, "When was the last time you had your insulin?" He was peering at her, his green eyes searching hers. Amber sighed

"I don't know" she tried to push past Hex but he stopped her.

"You won't be much use to anyone if you don't take it Amber" he said gently.

"Come-" but Amber had charged off down the bank. Alex had surfaced. Paulo and Li were with him.

Amber charged into the water, closely tailed by Hex. Li was coughing up water, spluttering, her long hair plastered to her face as Alex held onto her. Paulo was breathing heavily, bent over double. Amber and Hex helped them out of the water and they all collapsed on the bank, drinking in the fresh air.

"What happened?" Amber asked them.

* * *

When the car had gone into the river, Paulo had managed to undo his seatbelt almost straightaway. But then he had found his foot was stuck on one of the pedals. It was twisted in an awkward way. He had struggled to free himself. He saw Amber release herself next to him, and make for the surface, closely followed by Hex.

Paulo reached down and managed to get his foot free. He was about to follow the others to the surface when he noticed Li. She was still sat in her seat. Her hair was floating around her in a black cloud. She looked up at him and Paulo saw that her eyes were full of fear. She was hopelessly trying to undo her seatbelt that was obviously stuck.

Paulo kicked downwards and grasped the seatbelt too, he pressed the clasp but it wouldn't come undone. He looked back at Li's face. She was staring at him with an expression on her face that suggested she had given up… Paulo shook his head and pulled the belt at the top where it came out of the car to loosen it, the idea being Li could slide herself out. But that didn't work either. It was jammed. Li grabbed his hand and gestured to the surface with her free hand. Paulo shook his head again and grasped her hand more tightly.

They were brought out of the haunting, hypnotising world of the river by a rush of water. Li's eyes suddenly widened in hope. Paulo turned. Alex was swimming towards them, his knife out. Paulo shifted himself out of the way and Alex went in close to Li.

After a couple of agonising seconds Li's body abruptly lifted up. Alex and Paulo both grabbed one of her arms and kicked up swiftly for the surface.

Alpha Force sat in silence as they listened. When Paulo finished there was a few seconds of stillness. The Amber quipped

"Well, I don't think we'll be returning that range rover anytime soon, and if you ask me if anything, we should be getting a refund for that shoddy craftsmanship". The others laughed and the mood lightened.

"Come on" said Alex after they had recovered "Let's sort this out". They all got to their feet and made their way up the raise. A blonde haired woman greeted them at the top. She spoke

"Are you guys ok?" she was evidently American judging by her accent. "I saw your jeep go in the water, I was further up the road. I was about to call the ambulances."

"We're fine thanks" said Hex "Just a little wet". A look of horror flickered across his face and he quickly unzipped the pouch on his belt. He sighed.

"Your toy ok?" asked Amber her eyebrows raised.

"Yeh" said Hex, the pouch kept the water out, and luckily I'd put it away when the cars of death interrupted my concentration"

"What happed after we went in the river?" Alex asked the woman. She grimaced.

"Well when they saw what they'd evidently caused, both went speeding up the road, faster than before. They only just missed me. The van driver hung around though. I think he just left now, when he saw you were safe," she said searching round the area. Amber was busying herself by getting her insulin ready. She injected herself and popped it back in her pouch. She had been listening to the woman.

"Honestly, no sense of propriety at all" said Amber shaking her head. The woman smiled.

"Hey where are you headed? I mean I'm guessing you could use a ride?"

"Purace" said Hex "It's a small town-"

"Oh I know Purace!" exclaimed the woman. "In fact I'm heading there myself, I'm researching the volcano there. I was on maternity but my boss said we've got some help coming in today so I'm heading back up. You guys tourists?" Amber noticed that this woman seemed to talk a lot.

"Actually" said Alex "I think we're you're help".

"Oh!" the woman exclaimed again "What a chance! I'm Tina". Alpha Force introduced themselves. Tina led them over to her van.

"There's a couple of spaces upfront with me" said Tina "And a few seats in the back. Come on we'll get there before ten if we go now".

Alpha Force clambered into the van and Tina set off heading for Purace.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Alex noticed Purace straight up ahead. The small blocks of houses were barely visible beneath the looming volcano towering above the town. It was dark now but they could see the town and volcano because of the multitude of lights that were apparently stung along the streets in garlands. From here, Alex thought they seemed to be winking at them as buildings hid them randomly from his vision.

Tina pulled onto the slip road and turned round to call through the grilled partition to Hex, Li and Paulo.

"We're nearly there guys, want to gather your things and stuff?" The three in the back began gathering together the belongings that they hadn't lost in the river, most of which were still damp. Hex and Paulo had sorted through their things and made a list of what they needed to replace or borrow. Amber had already called her uncle who had given her permission to buy some things in the town using his money.

They drove across a small bridge to get into the town, it spanned over the river Magdalena, the one Alpha Force had fallen into earlier. Alex glanced down at the grey water remembering how much danger they'd been in earlier. He'd been thinking about it on the ride over and was still considering calling the police. Luckily the piece of paper he had noted their number plates on hadn't turned too soggy in the river. He decided to discuss it with the others later.

Although night had fallen, the town was still quite busy. People walked along the pavements hand in hand and an old man cycled past them merrily on his bicycle.

They drove for less then a minute before Tina slowed the van down, coming to a stop outside a large, one storey building. The volcano was stretched up above it, dominating the skyline. The van's tyres crunched on the gravel and the engine whined as Tina stopped. She climbed out and Alpha Force joined her.

Amber went to help the others unload. Alex collected Tina's papers from the glove compartment and dashboard in front of him and stepped out into the night. Stars glittered above, shining friendlily. Now they were closer, the volcano looked bigger than ever.

"Wow" said Alex gazing up at it "It's massive"

"Yep, she's a beauty all right," said a voice to his right. Walking to them across the gravel was a man. He had greying hair and brown eyes and looked to be in his fifties. He had a strong Australian accent.

"Hi" he said "I'm Garth" he shook hands with Alex, which was hard with all the papers. Alex introduced himself and the rest of them who had finished gathering their bags and had come around the side of the van. When he got to Amber he grinned even more. "Ahh Amber! I spoke with your uncle on the phone this morning! He told me how eager you all were!"

Tina appeared carrying a large rucksack along with a big, black box filled with strange looking devices.

"Let them in Garth, I'm sure we could all do with a cup of tea, and they can tell you all about the little detour they took on the way here!"

Alpha Force were gathered round a small coffee table with Tina and Garth. They were reclining on sofas and armchairs and all had steaming mugs of tea or hot chocolate. They had just finished telling Garth about their accident. He was shaking his head.

"Well you get those types of people everywhere. Hooligans, bad drivers. But there hasn't been anything on the news recently about a chase. We can check again tomorrow."

He relaxed and leaned back. "Well enough about that, I'd like to know about you"

"Well we just basically do charity work and things," said Alex "We help Mr Middleton a lot too". He smiled to himself. If Amber's uncle knew the true extent of the troubles and danger Alpha Force often got into he knew he'd stop them altogether. He was already reluctant to let a group of teenagers go off on missions.

Amber interrupted Alex's thoughts.

"How do you know my uncle?" she asked, placing her empty mug on the table and curling her legs up underneath her body.

"Well it's really through a friend of a friend but I've spoken to him a few times. When I realised we'd be needing an extra pair of hands I called him, I knew he had contacts, and well I owed him a favour." All five members of Alpha Force smiled at this, John Middleton was practically famous for the favours he received.

"I heard you guys were coming over," continued Tina "So I dumped the little one on my husband and headed out here. We'd been working on Purace for a while but never been able to get very far because we were so short on staff. It's been like that ever since Harry retired and Cathy left to be a nurse. That's why we're so glad you guys are here".

"Well we're happy to help," said Li "What sort of things will we be doing?" She was leaned forwards in her seat, already ready for action.

"Well Purace is an inactive volcano" said Garth "But it hasn't erupted for over fifty or soyears and we want to be prepared for the next time she goes". He pointed to a door behind him "We've got all the computers set up to analyse the data but we still haven't managed to set anything up on the mountain. We're going to need to do several tests up the top and on the way up. It takes a fair while and several journeys. I need to be here to configure the data, and with Tina pregnant she was hardly fit to be trekking up the mountain."

"That's where you guys come in" continued Tina "You can go and do the tests up there and measure everything and stuff. It's a fair climb but nothing too daunting, there'll be a guide with you and there's a set trail and everything."

"Cool" said Li, her eyes shining. "I can't wait.

"What type of tests will we be doing?" asked Hex. Tina waved her hand at him

"Oh just simple stuff like measuring waves and testing the acidity of the soil and things, we'll show you the stuff tomorrow".

Paulo yawned and Garth checked the clock

"Actually" he said, "I think we should go bed down, we're going to be up early tomorrow and it's pretty late".

Alpha Force got up and took their empty mugs to the kitchen. They then headed off to the rooms Garth had shown them to earlier and fell asleep immediately.

* * *

Amber jerked awake. She couldn't see anything in the pitch-black room but could hear Li's steady breathing coming from the bed over to her right. She suddenly realised that her sore throat had woken her up. She groped around in the darkness on her bedside table and her hand eventually found the small, smooth shape of her phone. She turned it on and it emitted a soft blue light. Enough so she could see where she was going but not so much that it woke up Li.

She padded softly across the carpet to the door, using her phone as a torch. She reached the door and opened it softly. The kitchen was only a little way to her right so she quickly and quietly walked over to the door. She pushed it open and flicked on the light.

Alex was sat and the table. His head was in his hands and he looked terrible. He was just wearing his tracksuit bottoms and looked as though he had come out of bed. Amber blinked a couple of times in the bright light as Alex looked up. He looked pale and his face was drawn.

Amber walked over and sat down

"What's wrong?" she asked gently "Is it your dad?" Alex looked across at her.

"I got a text from my mum" he said hollowly "She got back and saw my note. Dad's no better and she's really worried". Amber looked at Alex and sighed quietly.

"It'll be OK Alex". Alex shook his head

"I don't know. Maybe I'm always prepared for the worst or something. But it's not just my dad I'm worried about, it's mum too, I want to be there with her but I don't know what to do". He picked up his phone from the table. "I texted her back asking if she wanted me to come home, the reply's on the screen". Amber glanced down.

_Don't be silly Alex I'll be fine_

_you stay with your friends. _

_Your dad wouldn't want you_

_hanging around worrying and_

_neither do I. Go and enjoy yourself_

_and I'll keep you updated. _

_Look after yourself._

_Mum_

_xxx_

Amber put the phone down

"She's right you know," she said softly

"I know I just…" Alex buried his head back in his hands again. Amber got up and fetched them both a glass of water.

"I know it's not the same, but when my parents died I felt exactly the same," she said. "But you know what helped most of all?" Alex looked up "Talking to people. I never really got over it before Alpha Force but all those times I was in the hospital I just talked to people. There was another girl there and she just sat and listened. It helped me get some of it off my chest." She placed a hand on Alex's. "We're always going to be here for you, all of us, any time, anywhere. If you want to talk just tell us and I'm sure the others would be more than willing to talk to you. Me too". Alex looked back at her.

"You know what Amber? You're right. Thanks".


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

The sun peaked up above Purace casting a yellowy glow over the town. Paulo squinted as he helped Li to pull on her backpack. Alpha Force were about to set off up the mountain to collect the samples for Tina and Garth.

Garth had shown them how to use the equipment the night before and how to get the samples they needed. Alpha Force had it all in a box that was tucked into the top of Hex's backpack.

Tina had arranged a guide to take them up the mountain. It was important that Alpha Force followed the correct path up the volcano where it was safe, and so they hired the guide to show them the way.

"You got everything then?" asked Garth when they were all ready.

"Yeah I checked," replied Alex and the others nodded in agreement. Paulo noticed Hex asking Amber about her insulin but she waved him away after patting the important pouch on her belt.

Tina came out to say goodbye. She handed Li a digital camera.

"Take some pictures for me. I'd like to see the view up there but I'm still not exactly fit to come up. Otherwise I'd join you. Plus we can use them in our album." After assuring Tina that they would take some photos, and that yes, they would be careful, Alpha Force set off on the hike up Purace.

The stark beauty of the mountain captivated Li. There was some sparse vegetation and flowers dotted around on the gravel slope with several trees to weave between. The sheer size and magnificence of it made her gasp. Somehow, she found that she couldn't quite believe what they were climbing up.

Along the way, their guide, who was a local called Filipo pointed out rare plants and flowers as well as spotting some lizards scuttling down the slope and, in a small grove of trees a small deer.

"Why do they live here?" Amber asked Filipo "Don't they know they're on an active volcano?" Filipo answered in broken English

"When volcano erupt, they know, they leave" Amber smiled at the deer that had bolted out of sight after sensing the group approaching it.

* * *

After an hour of hard working Alex called a stop.

"We'll have a ten minute break" he said to them as Amber sunk to the floor massaging her sore feet. Usually a hard walk like this was no problem for Alpha Force, but the terrain and slope of the volcano made it hard work.

Paulo slipped his backpack off his shoulders and sat down next to Li. As Alex handed out water Filipo came up to him.

"You are good" he said smiling at Paulo "Usually people they do not go far. They get tired. I am impressed." Paulo grinned back at Filipo.

"Thank you" he replied, "We work hard, but we are a good team too."

After the break Alpha Force pressed on again. Ten minutes later Hex checked his watch.

"Hey guys, I think this is where we need to take our first sample from."

"Ohhhh can I do it?" asked Amber excitedly bouncing up and down on the balls of her feet.

Hex passed her the equipment he'd got out of his bag and handed it to Amber.

"We just need a soil sample" he said "You just put it in here remember?" Amber nodded as she remembered how to work the capsule, just as Tina had shown her.

Hex had to smile at Amber's eagerness. She was never one who could just sit and watch. She wandered away trying to find a patch of soil that wasn't strewn with gravel, which was hard on the rough terrain of the volcano's structure.

Amber decided that she wasn't going to find a clearer part of ground so she grounded herself with her boots, one higher than the other, and crouched down to gather the sample.

Further up the mountain, watching Amber, Li realised what was going to happen a split second too late. With all her experience of climbing, Li jumped as she saw the gravel trickling down from where Amber's bottom boot was gripped. Amber suddenly lost her footing as her bottom boot slipped swiftly down the mountain. The abrupt movement pulled Amber completely off her feet and she yelped in surprise as she thudded onto her back and started to slide down the hill.

The rest of Alpha Force watched as Amber tried to regain some control and regain her footing. Hex was already setting off down the slope after her, but he could only go as fast as he could allow himself without losing his footing himself. Amber soon came an abrupt halt, her foot caught in a pothole. Hex coughed in the rising dust that floated up and the last few bits of gravel trickled further down before coming to a standstill.

He grinned as he made his way down to Amber.

"You don't know how much I enjoyed that" he called down the to Amber as he slowly made his way towards her. But he soon realised something was wrong when Amber didn't reward him with a smart comment. Hex frowned.

"Amber?" he called. Amber was half sat-half laid on the slope, her right foot still in the pothole, her hands supporting her behind her back.

Hex moved down the slope with a newfound urgency and, almost slipping himself reached Amber quickly. As he crouched down next to her Amber glanced up at him and Hex could see that her face was strewn with pain.

"Amber? You ok?" Hex asked her. Amber frowned

"Does it look like I'm ok?" she grumbled. Hex couldn't help but grin. Amber wasn't that hurt to stop her from shooting him an insult or quip. Hex looked back up the slope. The other three members of Alpha Force and Filipo were looking down the hill, their hands up to their eyes, squinting in the sun. Paulo was already half way down to them. Hex raised his hand to indicate to them that Amber wasn't seriously hurt, and he could see Alex smile as he turned towards Li.

Turning back to Amber, Hex looked down at her foot, lodged in the pothole.

"What did you do?" he asked. Amber rolled her eyes.

"What does it look like you idiot? I fell down the blasted mountain and wedged my foot in the stupid pothole" She grimaced. "I think I sprained my ankle".

By now, Paulo had reached them. Hex moved out of the way so he could get to Amber. He flashed her his best grin as he gently moved her foot out of the pothole. Amber made sure she was sat properly before she let Paulo examine her ankle. After a minute or two Paulo looked up at Hex before turning back to Amber.

"I think it is just a sprain". He grinned again "You are lucky Amber, it could have been broken". Amber threw her head back and groaned with a frustrated tone.

"Why is it always me? Why do I always have to be the one to sprain, or break, or twist my ankle?" She looked up at Hex. "Why can't you sprain your ankle instead?" Hex opened his mouth in annoyance.

"It's not like I haven't had my leg nearly bitten off by a killer dragon you know," he said. Amber rolled her eyes again.

"One little scratch…" she muttered as Hex and Paulo supported her under her arms and hoisted her up.

Alex and Li had reached them, Filipo not far behind.

"You ok Amber?" Alex asked, looking down at her foot, raised off the ground. Amber thinned her eyes.

"No." she said sulkily "Paulo thinks I've sprained my ankle – AGAIN" she sighed, "It's not fair". She attempted to put some weight on her foot but drew it back up again quickly.

"Ow" she said simply. Alex grimaced.

"Amber I don't think you should carry on with us, you'd be better going back" Amber's face was full of dejection but she knew that she'd never get up the hill in the state that she was.

"I always miss out on everything" she said miserably". Li smiled sympathetically.  
"We'll take some photos for you Amber, and you can always help Tina analyse the samples"

"Spose…" Amber sighed. They stood in a disheartened silence for a couple of seconds before Hex slapped Amber on the shoulder.

"Come on misery guts, we'll have fun. I can tell you all about the new computer programme I designed" Amber opened her mouth wide.

"Oh no, you're not going to bore me to death as well are you?" Hex just grinned as he pulled the equipment out of his rucksack and helped to load it into Alex's.

"You will be…good…going back?" Filipo asked from behind Li.

"Yeah" grinned Hex, "I remember the way" he looked up at Alex in front of him and the other two behind.

"You don't mind missing out?" Alex asked, "I could always go back with Amber…" Hex grinned

" No, you guys have fun, I'll get up there tomorrow" Alex nodded at Hex and smiled as he put his arm round Amber's shoulder and helped her to hobble off down the hill. He turned one last time to give the group a wave, and as they waved back, Alex grinned as he heard Amber's voice wafted up towards them.

"Don't have too much fun without me!"

Li giggled and turned to face back up the mountain.

"Come on boys, we're behind schedule now, and I bet I can beat you to the top…" she set off at a brisk pace up the hill. Paulo looked at Alex and raised his eyebrows before setting off after Li.

"You will never beat me Li, I will not let you!" Alex just shook his head in disbelief at the two before setting off a little slower after them, alongside Filipo.

* * *

The sun got higher in the sky as the four of them made it higher up the mountain. They had already collected a few more samples and were now pushing to reach the top of the volcano, though, Filipo said the track petered out a little and it would take a couple more hours before they would reach the summit. As they climbed higher, the three got warmer and warmer. As a local, Filipo was used to the heat but Alpha Force found that they needed a regular intake of water, which Alex made sure he handed out at regular intervals.

As they climbed he watched Li and Paulo tease each other, but also marvelled in the vast sparseness of the landscape, and how difficult it would be to survive up. They had reached a steeper lay of land, and Alex put his head down to start to walk up, but as he put his foot down, he felt the earth shit. It was a weird sensation, and, at first, Alex thought he had imagined it, but as he placed his other foot down, he swore he felt it again, a tremble blossoming up through the Earth's crust. He frowned.

"Li?" he called up the slope. Li stopped and turned. "Do you feel that?" he asked pointing to the ground. Li frowned in turn but crouched down and laid her hand to the floor. For a couple of seconds, her face was a blank, bur soon a look of alarm crept up on it. Paulo noticed and joined her, placing his own hand on the ground, but he merely frowned.

"Li?" he asked, but Li held her hand up to shush him before walking over to Filipo.

"Filipo, is there any water round this part of the volcano?" she asked. Filipo thought for a moment before pointing through a small grove of thin, new trees. Li set off through them at such a pace that Alex thought she'd fall as Amber did. He and Paulo set off after her, and as they emerged from the trees they saw her standing at the edge of a small pool, staring in. She was frowning and shaking her head, biting her lip.

"I need to test the water" she muttered and glanced over to Alex. Alex pulled off his backpack and found the kit. Li opened it and soon found what she was looking for, a strip of litmus paper.

Tentatively, she stepped towards the pool.

"Careful" Alex called after her. He knew that Li was perfectly capable of the task in hand, but the way she was looking at the water, he didn't know what to expect… Li reached the edge of the pool and crouched down, making sure her feet were clear of the water. She slowly dipped the paper into the pool. Her body blocked Alex and Paulo from seeing what happened, but soon she stood up and turned towards them, her face pale and fearful.

"Li?" Paulo asked "Li what is wrong". Li glanced down to the floor.

"I think the volcano's going to blow up" she whispered holding up the litmus paper, which was now bright red. Alex's eyes widened with fear as the stark reality hit him and Paulo's mouth opened in shock.

Right on cue, startling the three friends into silence, a deep rumble thundered through the air and the ground underneath their boots trembled in it's wake.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Amber let out a groan of relief and sank to the floor. Hex flopped down beside her.

"You ok?" he asked. Amber nodded.

"Yeah, as much as I can be, under the circumstances" she grinned at Hex before busying herself with testing her blood sugar levels. Hex got out his palmtop and checked his e-mail while he waited.

They had reached the bottom of Purace quickly, and now only had the hill to descend before they reached the town. Amber had been annoyed at first at the prospect of having to sit out the expedition, but she'd soon perked up when she realised that Tina probably felt the same way, and studying the data probably wasn't that bad… Plus, it was a golden opportunity to tease Hex, which she'd done for the majority of their journey down the volcano.

Hex flipped his palmtop shut and made sure it was attached to his belt before sitting back and looking around. The sun was high in the sky and he could feel the heat prickle up his neck. He knew if Alex was with them he'd be reminding them about a water break. Right on cue, as if she had been reading his thoughts, Amber tossed a water bottle over to Hex. He grinned at her before taking a long drink. He passed it back and stared down at the town.

From where they were they could see the whole town. The small buildings clustered together, and in the distance, the river shone in the light. The town was quiet, and the only sounds Hex could hear were the birds up above his head in the trees. He glanced up the mountain….and stopped.

Rising from the top of the volcano was a thin twisting of steam. Hex frowned and nudged Amber who had just finished putting her kit away.

"Amber, is it meant to be doing that?" he asked, pointing up to the steam. Amber followed his arm, holding her hand up to her eyes to guard them from the shrug. When she saw what Hex was pointing at she shrugged.

"Don't know," she muttered. "But I think Li mentioned that most active volcanoes give off steam once in a while" She sighed. "Come on, I want to get back" she managed to struggle to her feet and Hex joined her, still glancing up at the top of the volcano.

As they set off down the hill, a deep groan filled their ears. A thunder like rumble that trembled across the whole town. Amber shot Hex a glance, her eyes wide.

"I know it's not meant to be doing that" she whispered. Hex's face paled.

"Let's get back" he said finally "We can ask Tina. We're probably just being paranoid…" he took Amber's arm and the two of them set off, more quickly, down the hill towards the town.

* * *

Alex and Paulo stared at Li in horror as they realised what was about to happen. The three stood in silence for a few seconds, not really knowing what to say.

"Maybe it's a false alarm?" Paulo suggested hopefully. Li just looked up at him, her face miserable

"I don't think so" she said "If the water's that acid then it usually means it's getting ready to go off…" she looked up to the top of the volcano, which now looked frighteningly close. "Look" she said pointing, "The steam's a sure sign of things heating up". Alex glanced up to the top of Purace, dread settling in the pit of his stomach.

"Ok" he said carefully "Then we head back down. Any idea of a time frame Li?" Li just shook her head as she walked back up to the two boys. "It all depends on what type of eruption we're dealing with. Some happen a lot quicker than others, and each individual volcano is different too…but I'd guess we've got about an hour before it starts chucking lava out." Her face paled "I hope it doesn't chuck lava out".

Alex decided to take charge of the situation. Li was obviously scared and Paulo just stood with a dumb look on his face.

"Ok" Alex said again. "It should take us a couple of hours to reach the bottom, that means we need to set off now, and if we make a good pace, we should make it down in time…" even as he said it Alex knew that what he was saying was probably wrong…They'd still have an hour's worth of walking to do if Li's prediction was accurate. It would also take them longer to go down than it did for them to go up, the terrain was difficult and hard to navigate. A look across at Li told Alex that she knew what he was thinking too, but they kept it between themselves.

Alex hitched his rucksack further onto his back and lead the other two back to where they'd left Filipo. Only to find….

"He's gone" Paulo stood at the spot where they'd left the guide and looked round. He looked back at the other two, and spoke more angrily.

"He left us!" Li tried to hold back tears as she bit her lip, staring around her…

"How could he?" she asked quietly. She looked across at Alex. "How could he?" she repeated. Alex frowned.

"He might not have left us" he said. "I mean we did all kind of run off, I didn't see him follow…"

"But he knew we were looking for water…" she sighed in frustration and annoyance. "What are we going to do?".

Alex noticed that both Li and Paulo were looking at him. For once Alex didn't know what to do himself, he'd never been in such a precarious position. But a look at his friend's faces told him that he at least needed to keep some control.

"I say we spend ten minutes looking for Filipo" he said, "He could be hurt or injured. Then we head back down." Paulo nodded in agreement and Li just looked forlornly at the floor. Alex turned and headed across the mountain, keeping up a quick pace. Li and Paulo followed, all the time aware of the danger hanging over them, and quickly reminded of the urgency of the situation as another rumble penetrated the earth.

* * *

Amber and Hex reached the centre within fifteen minutes of their stop. They dashed into the main room to see Tina staring out of the window frowning, and Garth typing furiously on one of the computers. The door banged against the wall as the two came in. Tina let out a short gasp of surprise and clutched her chest before staring across at the two.

"Oh god, you scared me then" she said. Her face went back to it's frown. "What are you doing here?" Amber waved her hand dismissively.

"I sprained my ankle, so we came back" she flopped onto a nearby chair. Hex joined Garth at the computer.

"What's going on up there?" he asked staring at the wave readings on the screen.

Garth shook his head.

"I don't know. She'd really kicking up a fuss, all the readings are going up…" he turned round and looked at Hex. "I think she could be about to go…" Amber's eyes widened.

"What?" she gasped limping over to join them Garth looked over at Tina.

"You think we should call for an evacuation?" Tina shook her head.

"I don't know, but this looks pretty bad…" she trailed off as another groan vibrated through the building; Amber stared at the phials and equipment on the desk as it trembled. A pencil rolled off the cabinet and fell to the floor. Tina shot a look at Garth

"I'll call for an evacuation…" Garth nodded and turned back to his computer. Hex could see the wave readings jolt upwards in response to the last tremor. As Tina headed out Amber turned to look out the window.

"But the others are still up there…" she said. Hex shot a glance at her, his face filled with concern. Garth turned to look at them.

"How far up were they?" Amber just shook her head.

"I don't know a couple of hours walking?" she tried to hold back tears as another rumble rattled the windows.

Hex placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. I'm sure they'll be fine" he said, only wising he knew what he said was true.

* * *

Alex, Li and Paulo stood together on the volcano. They had nearly been thrown to their feet several times by the tremors and the steam at the top of the volcano was getting thicker by the minute. They had searched for ten minutes in the surrounding areas of the volcano, and found no signs of Filipo.

"We've got to set off back" Alex told the other two. "Filipo can't be too badly hurt, he'll be able to make his own way down…" Li and Paulo nodded in response, and after a quick water break the three set off down the mountain.

It was hard. The speed they were going at meant they lost their footing easily. Paulo slipped once and almost did the same as Amber, managing to stop himself, but ending up with grazes covering his hands. They found they had to keep slowing, and annoyingly, they found they weren't making any immediately visible progress.

They soon reached a rocky section, that involved climbing over several boulders. Alex remembered coming past them on the way up, but Filipo had shown them a safe path through. The three of them stopped at the top of the rocks. Alex racked his brain trying to remember where Filipo had taken them, but the events of the past hour had erased them from his memory. He looked at Li, knowing she was the best person to judge how to cross the rocks.

"Li?" Paulo asked, "Which way do we go?" Li looked at them.  
"I should be able to find a way across, follow me, use the footholds I show you…" she set off slowly across the first rock, carefully feeling for handholds before continuing. They made slow progress, and Li spent much of her time casting frightened glances up the volcano.

If she had been giving her full attention to the rocks, she would have been able to prepare the trio for what was about to happen. A huge tremor shook the volcano fiercely. It was bigger than the previous ones, and the rocks shook as the volcano shuddered violently. Li screamed as she struggled to grasp the rocks properly. She pressed her body to the rocks and closed her eyes waiting for the tremor to subside. When she felt the tremble leave her body she risked opening her eyes, scared by what she might see.

She looked up the volcano to see the gravel rolling down the slope, accompanied by several other larger rocks. Li swallowed and tried to regain composure. She lifted her head and glanced around to look for the boys. Paulo was slightly above her. She watched him lift his head and tentatively stare up the mountain. He glanced down at her.

"Li are you ok?" Li nodded and stood up, she walked up to Paulo.

"Where's Alex?" she asked. Paulo frowned and looked around the rock formation.

"Alex?" he called. Li waited hopefully for a reply, but none came. Paulo called again  
"Alex?". Li looked up at Paulo in dismay and began to descend the rocks, looking behind them all. Paulo joined her, and soon the two were calling Alex's name together, their voices getting more and more desperate.

After five minutes of searching, they had covered the whole of the rock formation. Li looked up at Paulo, this time, tears falling from her eyes. Paulo stared back, a look of horror on his face. No words were needed between the two. Alex was gone.

* * *

Amber jiggled her leg up and down as she stared out of the window, trying to see any sign of the other three. Hex was still at the computer, intently studying the screen. Tina came back in through the door.

"they're going to get teams in and evacuate everyone" she said "They want us out too". Amber looked across at her.

"No way!" she exclaimed, "The others are still up there, we're not leaving them!" Hex nodded his agreement. Tina pursed her lips.

"I don't…" yet again she was interrupted by a tremor, but this one shook the building dangerously. Amber yelped and clutched the windowsill, crouching down underneath it. Hex also dropped to the floor. Tina grabbed the doorframe, and Garth only just managed to stop the computer falling off the counter onto his and Hex's heads.

Gradually the tremor subsided. Tina looked over at Garth.

"We're leaving" he said firmly standing up and grabbing a box. He shot a glance over at Amber and spoke before she could argue.

"All of us". Amber just looked dejectedly to the floor. She didn't know what to say. Hex looked at Tina.  
"It's that bad?" he asked quietly. Tina nodded solemnly.

"I've not know Purace prepare for an eruption like this in…forever" her gaze travelled to Amber."I'm sorry" Amber just stared at Hex. Hex looked to the floor before glancing back up at the computer screen.

"Wait" he muttered to it "Just wait". Amber made her way over to Garth.

"Please let us stay, just for a bit longer". Garth shook his head at her.

"Sorry Amber, full evacuation. Everyone out."

"Look" Amber continued, "No one knows we're here right? Give us half an hour and we'll get out, you can even phone us and check." She looked across at the computer "Surely it's not going to erupt by then?" she stared up at Garth, waiting for an answer.

Garth looked as if he were battling with himself for an answer. Looking at Amber then Hex he sighed.

"Fifteen minutes" he said "Then I want you out" Amber grinned at cast a happy glance across to Hex. Garth fished in his pocket and chucked some car keys across to Hex. "Take my land rover. I'll be checking" he said fixing his gaze on Amber. Amber nodded.

"Fifteen minutes I promise". Garth nodded, knowing her promise would be kept. He shifted the box under his arm and headed over to the door where Tina was waiting. After a lingering look at the two teenagers he was leaving under an erupting volcano he went outside. Tina smiled at the pair.

"They'll be back soon" she said. "Make sure you get yourselves out". Hex nodded

"We will" Tina nodded to herself and backed out of the room.

Amber waited until she heard the van drive away before coming and sitting next to Hex. She looked across at him before staring back out of the window.

"So we wait"


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Li stared up at the sky in desperation. She felt a hand on her shoulder and whipped round, but it was only Paulo. She sighed.

"What is it with people disappearing on this stupid volcano!" she let out a sob and slipped to the ground. Paulo came and crouched down next to her. Li was still crying. She looked towards Paulo miserably. "Oh Paulo what should we do?"

Paulo didn't have an answer straight away. They had two options…Carry on looking for Alex and risk not getting down the volcano in time, or set off again now and… He didn't want to consider what the choice was they were about to make. They had left Filipo easily, could they do the same again? It was different this time…

"Come on" he said. He helped lift Li to her feet then had a hopeful glance round.

"Li we need to decide what to do…" he said looking at her, almost wishing she'd make the decision for him. Suddenly he felt guilty. Why should Li have such a choice hanging over her head? He wished that the others were there… Li just stood solemnly looking out across Purace.

"We should go," she whispered. Her heart thudded in her throat as she delivered her opinion, but she carried on talking. "Alex is obviously not anywhere here, I don't know where he is, but if he was hurt we would have found him…so I think we should go. Alex knows how to get down. If he doesn't…" she trailed off, not knowing what to say. Paulo strode over to her and placed his hand on her shoulder.

"If he doesn't we will tell the rescue team. They will find him". Li just nodded; partly to reassure herself what she was doing was right.

"Am I a bad person?" she asked turning to face Paulo. Paulo opened his mouth in shock.

"No Li, you are not! It is not bad to decide one hard thing over another. Besides, we made this decision together". Li just nodded before hitching her rucksack further onto her shoulders.

"Come on then" she said. Another tremble in the earth beneath them reminded her of the reason she was doing what she was doing, but all the time a constant picture was floating into her head…Alex…and the fact they could be leaving him behind…

* * *

Hex stood up from sitting next to the computer and walked over to Amber who was sat staring out of the window.

"Amber, it's been fifteen minutes, we have to go" Hex hated to say it, but they'd promised Garth and he knew they'd send people back for them if they didn't go… Amber just sighed in frustration before standing up. She started to walk over to Hex, forgetting about her ankle, as she put it to the floor, pain flared up her leg and she sighed again.

Hex walked over to her.

"Amber, there's nothing we can do right now. We can tell the evacuation teams but I'm sure they'll be fine. They've got Filipo and I don't know three people better to be stuck up a volcano than them" Amber looked up at him and smiled weakly.

"OK" she nodded. She let Hex take her arm and help her over to the door.

"Wait!" Amber stopped walking and looked up at Hex. "We can't take the land rover how will the others get out of here?" Hex frowned, looking down at the keys in his hand. He didn't have time to answer Amber though as the phone on the desk trilled. Hex dashed over and snatched it up.

Amber saw Hex's face fall and realised that he'd been hoping it was the others…but it wasn't. Besides, Amber thought, they hadn't taken a mobile up…It was stupid how could they have made such a mistake…it had all seemed so simple…. Her thoughts trailed off as Hex put the phone down.

"That was Garth" he said, "He was checking that we were going to leave. I asked him about the land rover" Amber frowned

"And?" Hex grinned.

"He's given us an alternative" he strode over to the door and felt under the mat that was inside. Amber frowned at him until he stood up holding what he had found.

"What's that?" Amber enquired. Hex raised his eyebrows.

"That, is the key to Garth's motorbike" Amber put her tongue in her cheek to stop herself smiling.

"Paulo's going to be so jealous…"

* * *

Paulo managed to grab Li just in time. They had been heading down the volcano for the last fifteen minutes and Li had slipped on the fine gravel. Paulo was worried. It wasn't like Li to lose her footing so easily, but he figured that the constant worry and stress of the situation had gotten to her. Li managed to regain her footing. She steadied herself and stood still, staring out across the town. It was quiet; she couldn't see anyone on the streets.

As she watched, the town blurred slightly, a grey wisp penetrated the side of her vision. Li looked up the volcano. A thick flow of grey ash was drifting down towards them. Li looked up at Paulo to see that it had settled amongst his hair. It settled around her like snow, but unlike it's look-alike, ash was a bleak grey and unlike snow, it didn't melt.

Li grimaced. Soon it would pile up at doorways and coat the town in a grey blanket. It wouldn't be long before the volcano really started to erupt. She looked up at Paulo, trying to push out unwelcome memories.

"Come on. We'd better hurry".

Alex opened his eyes. At first he couldn't see anything, and a mild panic threatened to get the better of him before his survival instincts kicked in. Alex remembered what had happened. He remembered being on the volcano with Paulo and Li, and then the volcano erupting. Then it was a blank.

Alex assessed his surroundings. There were rocks all around him, but he could see a crack of light just above his eye line. Alex soon realised that he was trapped beneath a pile of rocks. He suddenly remembered what had happened before. They had been on the rocks, and then the volcano had shook. Alex had lost sight of Li and Paulo as he'd fallen down the slope. Then it had felt like a mountain fell on him.

He needed to get out. The problem was, was that he didn't know how stable the rocks were. They could be supporting others further up, and if he moved them…a whole load of others could come down on top of him. The second problem was, Alex thought, was that he didn't know how long he'd been unconscious, and he didn't know whether Li and Paulo would still be looking for him. If they were looking for him…they could be trapped like himself, or hurt, or worse…

* * *

Alex pushed the thoughts to the back of his head and decided on a plan on his head. There was no use in him sitting around amongst a load of rocks waiting for Purace to erupt.

He propped himself up on his elbows and made sure he was supported before kicking out at the rocks near his feet. It had the desired effect. The rocks slipped, and soon Alex could see a much bigger patch of light. He tentatively pushed out some of the rocks that were on top of him. Eventually, he was able to sit up. Alex looked around. He didn't recognise where he was. He couldn't see any signs of the trail, and the vast terrain of rocks seemed to be everywhere. Nothing to tell him where he had to go. Worse still, he couldn't see Paulo or Li, and judging from the position of the sun, he'd been unconscious for a good half hour. Alex felt the sick feeling come back but he pushed it back determinedly.

As he looked round Alex noticed the grey ash cloud down from the volcano. He grimaced. It wouldn't be long before it really erupted. He stood up. If it was going to erupt, he didn't want to be around when it did…He'd have to use all his expertise to get down the volcano in time…

* * *

Amber scowled as the motorbike shook as it hit a pothole, sending jolts up through her body. So far, Amber was distinctly unimpressed with Hex's driving skills. He'd managed to find every bump in every pothole and Amber was starting to wish they'd walked. She'd always hated motorbikes and thought they were infernal contraptions, much preferring horses or boats. Amber was pretty sure that she'd only ever drive when she desperately needed too, and even then, it would never be a motorbike.

The ash had started to drift in front of them about half an hour ago. It was starting to form piles in the streets and it was spitting up from the back wheel of the bike, leaving a flurry in its wake. Amber was staring around the town as they drove. There were few people still about now, just the odd person hurrying out. But then something caught her eye.

She tapped Hex's shoulder. Hex slowed down and came to a stop. He turned to face Amber, squinting in the ash.

"What?" Amber pointed over to a building that was about a hundred meters away from them. Hex twisted his head and stared across through the ash. A thick plume of black smoke rose from the buildings roof. Hex frowned.

"What's going on?" Behind him Amber shrugged.

"Do you think we should go and see if everything's OK?"

Hex considered the options. They had already told Garth that they would be leaving and the town was almost emptied. On the other hand, people could very well be trapped in the house, and Hex would feel terrible if they ended up leaving them. He glanced over his shoulder again and looked at Amber.

"We'll drive past and see if we can see anyone, but we can't spend too long". Amber nodded and squeezed Hex's waist to show her agreement, before gripping more tightly as the bike sped off along the grey drenched road.

They reached the house within a minute. Hex came to a stop and Amber jumped off the bike, walking slowly though the ghost-like air. Hex parked the bike and followed her. A glance up to the volcano told him everything he needed to know. They needed to be quick. Hex just prayed the others were safe.

Amber almost walked into the building. The ash was so thick; it formed a grey haze in front of her. It almost made the town look like icing on a shaped cake, Amber thought, grey icing.

A dull thump jolted her out of her thoughts. Amber turned to the building next to her, her throat itching as trails of smoke reached her. Another thump sounded, followed by a yell. Amber's heart jolted; there was someone in the building.

"Hex!" she called. Without waiting for him Amber ran along the side of the building looking for a way in. She quickly found a window, but a peer in rewarded her with a thick grey fog. Amber pulled back and groaned in frustration. She felt Hex come up behind her.

"Hex there's someone in there!" Hex had held his hand over his mouth as he jogged past Amber. A couple of seconds of waiting granted Amber with a shout.

"Amber there's a door!" Amber ran up to where Hex was stood. He reached out and pulled the handle of the wooden door and pulled. He frowned and glanced across at Amber.

"It's open". Amber shot Hex a quizzical look before striding past him and pushing the door fully open.

She was hit by the stark stench of smoke in her face, and couldn't stop a cough rising up her throat. She felt Hex recoil behind her a took a couple of tentative steps further into the building. Hex joined her, his shirt held up to his mouth. Then, out of the smoke came a small, frightened voice.

"Help!" Amber didn't hesitate, her eyes watering she set across the room, Hex close behind. They soon reached what seemed to be the kitchen. A young woman was curled up on the floor, her eyes wide and scared. When she saw Amber and Hex and screamed and jolted upright, tearing past them and outside. Hex caught a glimpse of her as she sped past him.

"What the?" he turned back to Amber. She looked strange. Her whole body was tensed up, upright, fists clenched, and she was staring at something – no _someone _across the room. Hex's eyes struggled to pick out details in the clouds of smoke that thickened by the minute, but then the figure stepped forward and Hex froze.

Stood at the back of the building was a middle-aged man, clothes ripped and dirty. His face was screwed up, and in his hand, pointed directly at Hex and Amber was the black oblivion of a gun.

* * *

High above the town at the top of Purace, something signalled a change. Slowly, the ash clouds cleared as a burst of angry orange and black exploded from the top of the volcano. The lava had come…


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Amber was frozen to the spot. She stared at the man in front of her. As much as she could see through the thick smoke he was tall and slim. He looked as though he'd been living rough, but Amber couldn't be sure. There was also a wild kind of look about him that seemed to stare right at her.

Behind Amber Hex took a few tentative steps forward. The smoke was growing thicker by the minute, though Hex was unsure of the source of it. He could feel the smoke caught in his throat and he felt the start of the effects of claustrophobia take hold. He pushed it back down as he stepped forwards again.

The man, whose eyes had been on Amber suddenly, seemed to notice Hex. He barked out something and shifted the gun so it pointed at Hex's chest. Hex felt his heart quicken and slowly raised his hands into the air. Amber spent a faltering glance at Hex before copying him.

"Amber?" Hex asked quietly "Any idea on a language?" Amber grimaced but looked back towards the man.

"Do you speak English?" she asked carefully. She was vigilant to make sure that she didn't come across as threatening. It was important that the man didn't feel threatened. If he felt he was loosing control, he may just pull the trigger in desperation. In reply to Amber's question the man spewed out a string of words, none of which were English. But Amber wasn't deterred. She thought she recognised some of the words and sounds the man had used as being some form of Spanish, but it wasn't like any form of it she'd heard before. .

Behind her, she heard Hex breathing raspily and realised that they all needed to get out of the building, and fast before it collapsed from fire damage or they all suffered from severe smoke inhalation. With newfound determination Amber looked back to the man and spoke to him again, using Spanish. It was tricky because Amber wasn't yet fluent in Spanish. She was well on the way to learning it but piecing together a sentence and trying to match it to how the man talked was hard.

As she spoke the man's eyes seemed to light up and he suddenly seemed to realise what was going on. He started shouting at them again and pointed to a door at the other side of the room, still pointing the gun at them. Hex and Amber understood. They had to go to the door. Usually Hex would have thought that they could have found some way out of the situation, or to try negotiating with the man, but his moods and actions seemed unstable, and Hex didn't want to risk making him angry.

Hex reached the door first and as he reached out to open it, he felt a wave of heat through the handle. This must be where the fire was. Hex bit his lip nervously as he reached out and pulled the door open. A wave of heat and smoke hit them causing all three to cough heavily. As soon as the man recovered he jerked the gun in the direction of the door staring at Hex and Amber. Amber's eyes widened in horror but soon realised there was nothing they could do. They had to do what the man said. She walked past Hex and took a small step into the room, and almost fell. Managing to grab the door in time Amber realised that she was at the top of a flight of stairs leading down. This was some sort of cellar. Amber reached out and grabbed Hex's arm to guide him, and together, the two of them made their way down into the cellar.

The smoke thickened as they went, Amber found it harder and harder to breathe as they descended. Once she reached the bottom of the stairs Amber turned round to look at the man again, though, he was barely visible through the smoke. He barked out another order and held his hand up, indicating them to stay where they were. The gun was still pointed at them. Amber clutched Hex's arm until the man retreated back out of sight and she heard the definitive click of the door closing. As soon as she heard it Amber charged back up the stairs to the door and tried the handle. Just as she'd thought it was locked. In addition, the door was solid wood, which meant there was no chance of knocking it over.

At the bottom of the stairs Hex was already on the floor coughing heavily.

"Amber!" he called. Amber ran back down the stairs, covering her mouth with her hand. The smoke was making her eyes stream and it was getting hotter all the time. Although Amber was unsure of where the actual fire was, it was becoming clear that it was nearby, and getting stronger by the second. She ran over to Hex who was still coughing on the floor, breathing in big gasps. She fell to the floor herself.

"Hex!" she called at him "Calm down ok?" Hex looked up at her

"Amber I can't-"

"You're panicking ok?" Amber said calmly "Calm down" Hex looked at her and nodded, and slowly seemed to get some control over his breathing. Amber grinned at him.

"We need to find another way out." She glanced at Hex, coughing "Keep low to the floor".

Amber crawled across the dusty concrete until she reached the wall. She looked around the room, but all she could see was the thick black smoke.

"Amber!" Amber twirled round at the sound of Hex's voice. She could barely see him through the smoke, but he was lying on the floor, still coughing heavily. He was pointing up to something above Amber's head. She followed his arm with her eyes and spotted it. A small window in the corner of the room, at the top. It was at floor level on the outside. Below it was a set of shelves. They were empty spare a few empty cans of paint and a rotten cereal box.

At the sight of the window Amber's heart leaped. But looking at it she soon realised that it was much too small for Hex to fit through, she'd have a job of fitting through herself. As she made her way over to the shelves Amber glanced back at Hex, still coughing.

"Hex!" she spluttered "I'll come and unlock the door for you" Hex didn't speak but raised his hand in acknowledgement. Amber could barely see him through the smoke.

Climbing up the shelves proved relatively easy; although Amber found that the smoke got thicker the higher she climbed. It was getting harder and harder to breathe and Amber felt like her lungs were suffocating. Eventually she reached the window and a quick push on it told Amber it was unlocked. She let out a sigh of relief and pushed the window open fully. Fresh air blasted her in the face, and although it was still thick with ash, Amber breathed it in greedily. It was a lot fresher than the air below her. After a quick glance back into the cellar, where Hex was now out of her sight, she hoisted her shoulders through the window. She slowly managed to wriggle though and finally managed to hoist her legs through and stood up.

Amber coughed in the fresher air but didn't waste any time in running round to the main door. As she reached it Amber's heart sunk. The door was locked. A large, steel padlock bolted it shut, and, similarly to the cellar door, it was solid wood, which meant any chance of Amber opening it was slim. A sob rose in Amber's throat but she pushed it down and tried to concentrate on finding another way of getting in. There was a window not far down the wall and Amber ran to it. A quick examination of the window told Amber that she could easily smash it. A small beacon of hope rose inside Amber but she knew she still had to make it in and get Hex out. The danger was far from gone.

She pulled off her jacket and wrapped it firmly around her arm. Without hesitating she rammed her elbow into the window. The impact jarred up her arm but the glass shattered and it showered down onto her arm. Amber quickly cleared the excess glass away and was about to hoist herself back into the building when something caught her eyes. A flash of red. Her eyes darted up to the top of Purace. Orange rocks were visible at the top, being spat out powerfully. Amber swallowed and turned her attention back to the building. She only had one thing to worry about at the moment. Getting Hex out. As she climbed back into the building Amber pushed everything else into the back of her mind.

It was horrible to be back in the clogged air and Amber felt herself coughing again. Something briefly occurred to Amber and a quick search rewarded her with what she was looking for. She dragged the table across to the window and swung a chair over too.

The door was relatively easy to find again and Amber was relieved to see it wasn't padlocked. A rusted bolt held in place and Amber pulled it back. As she yanked the door open she was forced into another spasm of coughing as another plume of thick smoke ploughed into her. It was like being suffocated. Amber headed back into the cellar, her eyes streaming.

"Hex!" she spluttered. There was no reply. Amber's heart beat faster. She fell to the floor and crawled forward. Then she saw him.

Hex was sprawled out on the floor, unconscious. Amber moaned in desperation and leaned over Hex.

"Hex!" she called, shaking him "Hex wake up!" Hex didn't respond. Amber felt sick and realised she had only one option. She tucked her arms under Hex's and dragged him backwards towards the stairs.

Getting Hex up the stairs was hell. Amber had never actually realised how heavy Hex was. Her arms burned with the effort of dragging him upwards, and the smoke was unbearably thick. When she reached the top of the staircase Amber sank to her knees and rested Hex's head in her lap. She felt like crying but knew she'd never get back up if she let herself cry. Exhaustion waved across her body but she knew she needed to get them both out.

Amber forced something through herself and yelled with the effort of getting up, finding a new source of determination she didn't know she had. When she reached the window Amber thanked herself she'd thought of the table and chair before hand. She didn't think she'd have the energy to get them now. Although her primary objective to putting them there was just to make the job easier of them getting out, she now knew she faced something that was going to prove just as hard as getting Hex up the stairs had been.

A quick glance down to Hex's face gave Amber another surge of determination.

"Don't die Hex" she muttered as she sat herself on the chair "We're nearly there, don't die now". As Amber climbed onto the table she managed to hoist Hex onto the chair. The effort it took was unbearable and Amber sobbed with frustration and exhaustion as waves of pain rushed up her arms. She was just about to pull Hex onto the table when she felt something behind her.

Amber turned and saw someone outside the window. It took her a few seconds to register who it was, but when she finally did realise a warm flow of relief surged through her.

"Filipo!" she cried happily. Amber couldn't think of a time she'd been more relieved. If Filipo and the others were here… She didn't have time to dwell on the thought. Filipo reached past her into the room, and, with a little help from Amber, managed to grab Hex and dragged him out of the window. Amber jumped out herself and followed Filipo a few meters away from the building. As she got outside Amber greedily sucked in the fresh air.

Just in front of her Filipo was leant over Hex who was still unconscious and laid on the floor. As she reached them Amber suddenly realised that Alex, Li, and Paulo weren't there.

"Filipo where?" Filipo glanced up at her angrily

"Not now!" Amber frowned looking down at Hex. Filipo continued, "We need to go now".

"Why?" Amber whispered, still trying to get her breath back.

Filipo gestured down to Hex lying motionless in the ash.

"He is not breathing". Upon hearing those four words Amber's world fell apart.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Li felt a welcome relief surge through her as she reached the centre where they'd been staying. She broke away from Paulo and sprinted down the slope, ash flying into her face. The door banged against the wall as she flung it open.

"Alex?" she called breathlessly "Alex are you here?" her voice bounced off the walls and faded away into the seemingly dusty silence. Li grimaced but didn't give up.

"Hex?" she continued "Amber?" From behind her she heard Paulo's voice join her own. Biting her lip anxiously in a last attempt to find her friends Li dashed through to the living area and the bedrooms. "Alex?" she called again "Amber, Hex?"

The lack of replies barged through to her throat, a lump rising up it. She sank to the floor helplessly as another tremor shook the building. Paulo appeared in the doorway, clutching it for support. She looked up at him miserably.

"Li" Paulo said looking down at her "We have to leave now". Li didn't know what to say. She knew Paulo was right but another part of her was screaming to stay. To find her friends. She looked up at him.

"Where are we going to go?" Paulo glanced out the window, pondering for minute.

"We will take the land rover, get out of town, and then find the others. We will get help". Li forced a small smile as she got up and joined Paulo.

"Good" she said softly.

Another tremor shook the floor. Li looked at Paulo.

"We have to be quick though" Paulo nodded in agreement and the two headed out of the building.

* * *

Amber looked up at Filipo in shock.

"What?" she asked, though the word barely left her lips, the horror of the situation casing a cold shiver to break out across her body. Filipo hoisted Hex onto the back of his truck parked next to them. Amber was still staring at him, eyes wide, still not quite believing it, as if it were some sort of dream that had broken through to reality. But it _couldn't_ be real. Filipo looked at her.

"Get in" he said pointing to the back of the truck. "You know – what they call it? Make him breathe?" It took Amber a few precious seconds to respond.

"CPR? Yeah I do" Filipo jerked his head to the back of the truck.

"Use it. I drive to hospital". Amber cast one last look up at Purace. It only took that. The bright red lava seemed to jerk her out of her trance. Somehow bursting through the silvery veil that had somehow imprinted itself over her consciousness. She turned back to Filipo, a determined look on her face.

Jumping into the back of the truck and crawling over to Hex, Amber called out to Filipo who was getting into the front.

"Filipo! Where are the others?" a pondering silence followed before Filipo answered. He averted his gaze.

"I do not know" he said, and with that slammed the door of the truck.

As the truck started up and bean to move through the thick sludge-like ash Amber turned her attention back to Hex. Seeing him lying motionless struck at Amber like a burning rock but she tried to regain some control. Amber knew how to do CPR, and had known for a very long time, but the prospect of performing it on one of her best friend's scared her to the bone. She had only ever had to perform it on a member of Alpha Force before and that had been a VERY long time ago, when they had first met on the island. In addition, Alex hadn't been breathing because of almost drowning. It had been relatively easy to get him to breathe again. This was different. Hex had inhaled a lot of smoke, he wasn't going to wake up while Amber was performing the CPR which meant she'd have to keep going until they reached wherever it was Filipo was taking them.

Amber shook her head to rid herself of the unimportant thoughts and leant over Hex and began the compressions. Thirty compressions to two breaths. As she worked Amber's mind slipped away. She found she performed the CPR on autopilot and distracting herself helped her to forget the deadening pain that was creeping up her arms. Her mind strayed to some of the other 'missions' Alpha Force had been on. In particular, she remembered Hex. She remembered the first time they'd met on the Phoenix, and the silly squabble that had led to Hex's palmtop being flung into the sea. She remembered Hex getting bitten by the Komodo dragon, and how worried she'd been. She remembered him going back to rescue Samir in the Sahara desert. She remembered being with him in the caves in Alaska and him panicking as he found he had claustrophobia. She remembered him helping her escape the crocodiles in Australia and getting buried in the museum in Belize. She remembered… she remembered how he'd come down Purace with her…only a few hours ago and… Visions blurred in front of her eyes as Amber found tears dripping down her face.

"No" she muttered to herself "No Hex please!"

The truck jolted to a stop. Amber couldn't have said how long they'd driven for. The journey had seemed limitless, she had been caught in a zone, an inescapable, terrifying zone that…she didn't want to think about it. Suddenly she felt Filipo at her side.

"Stop" he ordered, grasping her hands. Amber looked up at him horrified.

"What?"

"Stop" Filipo ordered again "We at hospital I take him". Amber glanced up to see that they were parked in front of a large, grey building. The sign above the wide doors confirmed Filipo's claim. She allowed herself to pull away from Hex, letting Filipo pick him up and dash into the hospital.

Although exhaustion threatened to overwhelm her Amber couldn't, _wouldn't_ let Hex out of her sight. She scrambled down from the truck and ran into the hospital following Filipo. As she burst through the double doors she spent a panicked few seconds trying to locate Filipo but she managed to spot him at the other end of the waiting area. He was putting Hex onto a trolley, talking to a nearby nurse in Spanish as she took over the CPR.

Amber ran over to where they were. She caught one last glimpse of Hex's pale face before he was wheeled off out of sight. Amber's heart jumped. She couldn't let Hex go now, not after…everything… Ignoring Filipo's protests she shrugged his arm off her shoulder and charged down the corridor in the direction they had taken Hex. She flung open a pair of double doors ahead of her only to see…

Amber felt sick. Hex was on the trolley on the other side of the room and the doctors…they were using a defibrillator. Amber shook tears from her eyes and turned around and walked slowly back out of the doors. She couldn't see this…it was too much…to think that Hex was going to… The image was going to be imprinted in her mind for the rest of her life and Amber knew it. A lump rose up in her throat and before she could stop it Amber burst into tears. After a couple of seconds she felt warm, comforting hands on her shoulders. Amber looked up. A nurse was stood there smiling at her.

"Hey there, hey it's OK" Amber shook her head in reply.

"It's not OK, he's…" Amber couldn't finish the sentence as she gestured to the room where Hex was.

The nurse glanced across before turning back to Amber

"Look, why don't we go and get you checked out and we can have some tea or something and then later we can come back and see how he's doing ok?" Amber just watched miserably and allowed herself to be led over to the cubicles.

* * *

Li stared out at the bleak, washed mounds of ash as she and Paulo drove through the town.

"I can't believe that Alex and the others are still out there" she looked across at Paulo "It's horrible feeling that…" she sighed with frustration "Where are they?" Paulo sent her a sympathetic smile.

"We will find them Li. They will be OK" Li just shook her head despondently.

They drove in silence for several minutes until Li sat up straight in her seat. Her eyes lit up.

"Paulo look! The hospital!" Paulo frowned

"Why would they be there?" Li smiled sceptically.

"Because" she said, "It's the first public place we'd come to and I'm sure lots of people have come here too." Li failed to say the other reason that Alex, Amber and Hex might be at the hospital and left it unsaid. It was something that was playing in the back of Paulo and Li's minds, and it was something they desperately didn't want to experience.

* * *

Alex found that however fast he could make himself go it wasn't fast enough… Only minutes ago he'd been thrown to the ground as the volcano jolted violently. It meant something that Alex had been wishing would never happen.

He'd try to stop himself looking towards the top of Purace to avoid seeing the red hot lava surging down the side. It was merciless. Nothing survived as the globular, thick surge folded and heaved over everything in it's path. Alex just prayed that the others had gotten down the volcano in time…if not. The thought of the lava overcoming one of his friends was horrible.

He was nearing the base of the volcano now; at least he could just about see the town now through all the thick ash. It seemed to clog his throat making it harder and harder to breathe. In addition, larger pieces of rock had been flying past Alex's head, and the growing frequency of these worried Alex. He desperately needed to get down before something worse happened. Except it happened before he got there…

Alex was nearing the bottom of the volcano, when another glance behind him told him that the lava was a lot more ruthless than he'd first thought. It was almost upon him, and there was nowhere to run… Alex felt his heart rate increase. A burning feeling rose up in his throat and his breathing quickened. This was bigger than anything he'd ever experienced before…and he didn't know what to do…

Nothing plausible entered Alex's head, but if he kept at the rate he was going and the lava kept the rate it was going…then it would come down right to the last minute. If his shaky calculations were anything to go by, then the lava would catch him up just as he reached the bottom of Purace. It would come down to that, one moment. One split second would decide what would happen.

That moment came all too soon. As his feet touched the grass at the base of Purace Alex felt the heat behind him rise and knew he was going to have to find a way out or…it was a sickening thought. But then Alex spotted it. The one thing that could just get him out of this alive. It was a slim chance, but a chance none the less.

Parked at the bottom of Purace was an old car. It was a dirty red colour and didn't look to be in the best condition, but it could just save his life. Alex found he was sprinting now, the lava raced on behind him as he hit the flat… All he had to do was reach the car. The few seconds that followed were some of the scariest of Alex's life. Everything depended on him getting to the car, and he put everything into it…

As if out of nowhere he was there. Alex couldn't quite believe it and found he wasted a couple of precious seconds standing there with relief. He grabbed the wing mirror and hoisted himself onto the top of the car. A split second later the plume of lava hit him. It was like being in the middle of a red-hot pit. The lava sent up waves of unimaginable heat. Alex crouched on top of the car and tucked his head into his hands. The moment seemed to last an eternity but eventually the heat subsided, as a calm seemed to penetrate the area…

Alex tentatively uncoiled himself. The surrounding area had been completely devastated, though some buildings still stood. Amazingly, the car beneath him had survived too, though Alex doubted it would live to see another day judging by the state of the wheels… Alex couldn't quite believe it and a glance down at his hands found that he was shaking. It was definitely something he didn't want to experience again…He could see the control centre a couple of hundred metres away. He'd have to wait for the lava that still remained on the ground to cool, but once it had he could get to the centre, and hopefully find the rest of Alpha Force.

As he sat and stared across the desolate town, Alex only hoped that worse was not to come…


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Li walked up to the desk of the hospital, nervously eyeing the surrounding area. She wanted to find the others, but to find them here would be awful. The conflicting emotions caught in Li's throat, and for a couple of seconds she found herself unable to talk. The woman behind the counter looked down at her.

"Yes?" Li started to stutter but felt a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"We would like to find out if any of our friends are here" Paulo said behind her "Two English boys and an American girl".

The woman raised her eyebrows and looked at them sympathetically.

"I'm afraid so many people have come in today, I don't know if I'd be able to tell you" she sighed "That volcano is causing all sorts of problems"

Li felt terrible. They'd never be able to find the others. The woman obviously noticed the look on her face. She twisted her mouth.

"Hey, look I don't know if your friends are here and I can't let you in to look but if you admit yourself you would probably be able to have a look round the cubicles" Li attempted a half smile.

"That's a good idea but there's nothing wrong with me". The woman raised her eyebrows again.

"I'm not sure I'd call that cut on your head nothing". Li frowned.

"What?" she asked, turning to face Paulo. She gaped at him. "Why didn't you tell me?" Paulo shrugged half-heartedly.

"I knew you would never let me help you, you were too concerned and I could tell it was not too bad, you were perfectly co-ordinated"

"Oh" Li said, not really understanding but accepting it. "I suppose it happened when all those rocks fell, I was so distracted…" she trailed off into her own thoughts and looked back up at the woman. "Can we take you up on that offer?"

* * *

Amber stared out of the window next to her bed. A nurse had examined her ankle and deemed that yes it was sprained, but probably not very badly after all judging by the fact Amber had managed all that she had done after acquiring it, though nonetheless she should probably keep it rested. She could see the volcano from where she lay and was fiercely concentrating on it, if only to stop the tears coming to her eyes. She had heard nothing of Hex and with every passing minute Amber could only fear that the reason they weren't telling her anything was that something horrible had happened. She tried to keep the thoughts from her mind, as the lump in her throat got bigger. Not crying was giving her a headache.

Just as blurs in front of her eyes threatened to spill down her cheeks a shout from behind her sent a wonderful leap shock burst up through to her chest.

"Amber!" Amber turned to see Li running across to her ignoring disapproving glances from a nearby nurse. It was a wonderful sight. Amber took a few steps forward, not quite believing it but then the two friends met and threw themselves into a fierce hug. Li's arms wrapped around Amber tightly. After a couple of seconds Amber managed to pull herself from Li's grasp and looked over her friend's shoulder to see another sight that brought warmth surging to her chest. Paulo was stood looking at her a small smile on his face. Amber walked up to him and the two hugged as well, though it was a lot less constricting than the one with Li had been. Hugging Paulo pushed the lump from her throat back down and a wash of peace passed over Amber. When she finally pulled away Amber looked Paulo expecting to see a third friend walking up, but Alex didn't appear.

She turned back to look at Li and Paulo.

"Where's? -" But she didn't manage to finish her sentence as Li burst into tears. It was such a shock to see her friend like this that Amber briefly forgot her question. It was so rare to see Li like this, Li who was normally so…bouncy. Amber looked up at Paulo.

"Where's Alex?" she asked softly. Paulo opened his mouth to speak but Li, whose tears seemed to have been a short lived affair looked cut in.

"We were hoping he'd be with you" she said, her voice hollow. "On the volcano, we…we got separated…and we left" creases in her face signified another bout of tears but Paulo crossed over to her and wrapped his arm round her shoulders.

As Paulo explained to Amber about how they'd lost Filipo, and then Alex had disappeared, Amber's mind drifted to horrendous possibilities that she could not rid herself of.

"Amber?" Li asked softly. Amber whipped her head round and realised that Li had repeated her name. "Where's Hex". Amber stared at the floor.

"Everything's so messed up" she said softly.

As a nurse scurried round them checking Li's head and bandaging Paulo's scraped hands as Amber explained everything that had happened to her and Hex after they had left the others.

Li curled her legs up underneath her and leaned back onto the headboard.

"How could this happen?" she asked miserably. Looking out at the now black and red volcano she tried not to imagine Alex stuck there, on the ominous mountain.

Ten minutes of steely silence passed. None of the three friends really knew what to say. All of them were locked in their own thoughts, silently rolling situations through their minds.

"Excuse me?" a voice broke Paulo out of his stupor. He looked up, the nurse from the desk was back, but this time, she was looking at Amber.

"Are you Amber? The girl who came in with the boy called Hex?" Amber jumped out of the bed, wincing slightly as her foot touched the ground.

"Yes, is he OK?" The nurse looked across at Paulo and Li then back to Amber.

"He's going to be fine". Amber let her mouth drop open and slowly sat back down on the bed. She stared at the floor for several seconds before looking up at Paulo.

"I thought…"

"I know," said Li comfortingly "We all did" she moved over next to Amber and wrapped an arm round her friend's shoulders. Paulo smiled at them before turning back to the nurse.

"Thank you" the nurse grinned back.

"No problem, he should be out soon so you can see him" she turned to walk away but stopped briefly and turned back "Oh, and I'm glad you found your friends". Paulo offered her another grin as she walked away. As much as he wanted to be pleased about Hex, and he was pleased, something held him back from true relief. Knowing now that Alex was out there still nagged in the back of his mind.

He looked back over to the girls. Li was staring at the floor and Amber was staring up at him, biting her lip.

"Now what?" she asked glancing over to Li and back up to Paulo. "What about-"

"We need to find him" Li said standing up. "Out there…" she trailed off, not knowing what to say. Paulo walked over and wrapped his arms around her.

"Li I understand how you are feeling but we must think about this. We can get help-"

"And how long's that going to take?" Li said, her voice raised. She stared up at Paulo. They stood in silence for a moment before Li drew in a shaky breath.

"I'm sorry I just…" But Paulo had stridden over to the window and was staring out. Amber frowned at him.

"Paulo?" At the sound of Amber's voice Paulo turned.

"Li's right, we should go and find Alex" Li felt a smile creep up onto her face.

"Good" she whispered. She looked back at Amber "We can use the land rover right? Or the truck? Is it still outside?" Amber frowned.

"It should be. But I don't know where Filipo went after bringing us here. Now I think about it I haven't seen him at all…" Li sighed and muttered something about disappearing a lot under her breath before turning to face Paulo, only to be met with the sight of the nurse from earlier.

"I heard you talking about leaving and I'm afraid I can't allow it" Li opened her mouth in protest.

"Why?" the nurse raised her eyebrows.

"I still need to examine you properly, you might have concussion and you simply can't go gallivanting around erupting volcanoes while that's still an issue. I'm sorry" Li stared up at the nurse, dejected.

"Please" she said, "Our friend is out there".

"I could go," said a voice from behind. Li turned to see Amber standing up. "You've already treated me right? I can go?" the nurse frowned

"I really wouldn't recommend it"

"I feel fine. I don't even think my foot is that badly hurt, I mean I dragged Hex out of a building with it, surely if I managed that it must be OK?" Amber stared at the nurse waiting for an answer. The nurse was stood, her mouth open, obviously trying to find some sort of excuse but failing at the moment.

"Good then" said Amber walking over to the others "Paulo let's go" she turned back to Li.

"We'll find him," she said comfortingly. Pulling her friend into a hug she continued "Look after Hex for me?" Li nodded, as they pulled apart.

"Of course I will" she looked up to Paulo and smiled as a way of goodbye.

"See you later then" said Amber as her and Paulo walked off. Li smiled at their retreating backs and tried to suppress a grin at the sight of the nurse's disgruntled face. She just hoped they'd find Alex before it was too late…

* * *

Amber clambered into the land rover next to Paulo.

"So" she asked looking across at him "Where are we going to start?" Paulo frowned.

"I am not sure. We will head back to the centre and see if he is there. Then we can go back to the volcano"

"If we can get there…" Amber muttered as Paulo started up the engine. There was no guarantee that the volcano was still accessible.

* * *

Li felt miserable. She was stuck in a hospital while Amber and Paulo were off after Alex, and she felt so… useless. Li hated not being able to do things. She sighed and rolled onto her side just as the nice nurse came back and started opening the curtains round her bed.

"Li?" she asked smiling, her arm outstretched. "I think you know him?" Li frowned and sat up slowly but soon a massive grin had crept onto her face.

It was Hex. A couple of doctors wheeled his bed into the space next to Li's and parked it. Li glanced over to the nurse who smirked a little with amusement before heading off. Li scrambled out of her own bed and walked over to Hex's.

He didn't look brilliant. He was pale and looked really tired, but he was alive Li thought.

"Hex?" There was a brief moments silence before Hex turned his head towards Li and opened his eyes. When he saw her he broke into a big smile.

"Li" he said quietly taking off his oxygen mask. "You have no idea how good it is to see you". Li smiled again

"I think I do," she said laughing, "It was horrible, not knowing..." Hex's smile faded a little. There was another moment's silence before Hex spoke again.

"Where's my palmtop?" Li frowned slightly.

"I'm not sure, but they usually put your stuff under the bed. Hex are you ok?"

"What?" said Hex looking at her "Well yeah, I mean, aside from the expected. I just want to see if I can find out anything about the guy who locked me and Amber in" he put the oxygen mask back over his mouth, and Li, suddenly realising, crouched down and started rummaging under Hex's bed.

Soon her hands met with the smooth, square case of Hex's palm top. As she stood up a deep rumble from Purace reached them. The glass in the windows vibrated and Li frowned.

"Hex, do you mind if I check something on here first?" Hex nodded and Li sat back on her bed, starting up the palmtop.

It took her less than ten seconds for her to find what she was looking for. She closed the palmtop and looked up at Hex, her face stretched with worry. Hex frowned and pulled off his oxygen mask

"What's wrong?" Li just shook her head, she looked terrified.

"I wanted to check before I told anyone" she said quietly "But, from everything that's happened, there's no way I can be wrong". Hex stared at her, silently telling her to go on. Li stood up and walked over to the window, staring out at Purace in the distance.

"What's happening to Purace is a plinian eruption. It's the most powerful type. Plinian eruptions usually send out ash and volcanic gas, and really vicious lava. But that's not the half of it. There's something else related to them, much much worse than any of that" she looked across to Hex "A pyroclastic flow" Hex frowned, dread sweeping up through him. He didn't really know much about pyroclastic flows but he knew that they were dangerous, and from the look on Li's face they were much more deadly.

"How bad?" he asked her quietly. Li's eyes flickered towards the floor before she continued.

"Pyroclastic flows are fast-moving collections of ash, hot gas and rock. It can travel up to 700 kilometres an hour. The gas is usually at about 100-180 degrees Celsius. They can travel for hundreds of kilometres" she stared across at Hex, tears staining her cheeks "And they're deadly. And there's one coming".


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

He'd made it. Alex pushed the door to the research centre. A steely silence hit him as he walked in.

"Hello?" he asked the dusty quietness tentatively. "Li? Paulo?" he paused. There was no reply. As he walked further into the room, a wave of coldness hit him. His eyes strayed over to the sheets of paper scattered on the floor, and the blank lights on the PCs, telling him they were dead. But it wasn't just the look of the place that gave Alex a funny feeling. It was the whole feel of the place. It just felt so…abandoned.

He wandered down towards the bedrooms, half-heartedly peering into each of them. "Amber? Hex?" No reply. Alex felt the sinking feeling deepen. They weren't here. He cursed silently. What now? Another couple of seconds of silence passed, the grey-white ash outside the windows drifting carelessly gathered at the windows. It was like another world, thought Alex. An abandoned world. A silent, abandoned world.

Then he heard it. A sound like nothing Alex had heard before. It was a deep rumble, but sounded as if the earth had pulled it from the very depths of its core. And there was the feeling that came with it. Like the feeling when you here the car behind you screech it's breaks, knowing it's going to hit and just waiting. Alex felt his heart rate quicken. A seeping coldness hit him as the sound got louder.

He ran back through to the main room and stared out the window. It was Purace. And it wasn't good. A huge black cloud had formed at the top of the volcano. It blackened the surrounding area with foreboding and set a dark shadow over the whole time. The coldness was like a knife. Alex stared out of the window, horrified. It took him all of a second to jolt himself into action. As the cloud started to move, so did Alex. He had less than ten seconds.

* * *

Li clutched the edge of the table leg. As soon as she and Hex had worked out what was going to happen they'd alerted the hospital staff. Although they reckoned the cloud wouldn't reach the hospital, they had wanted to be sure and had moved everyone to the back of the building, and now Li was crouched under a table in the cafeteria, huddled with everyone else who could walk. Hex was further down the corridor with the rest of the patients and staff.

As the deep groan of the volcano reached Li's ears she felt the fear take over. Fear like she'd never felt before. Everything she'd ever experienced, everything with Alpha Force…nothing was as bad as this. She was so frightened Li couldn't comprehend it. She squeezed the table leg with her hand to stop herself crying. God she was so scared. Scared for her, scared for her friends, scared for everyone. Because there was nothing she could do about it. This was just the Earth being angry. And she couldn't help.

The next few seconds were the longest of Li's life. She could her heart thumping in her chest and a feeling of sickness crept up her throat. The tears started to fall from her eyes and she squeezed the table leg harder. And then it hit.

* * *

It was hell. Amber was crouched with Paulo in a cellar of a small house on the outskirts of Purace. When she'd gotten the call from Li Amber had nearly collapsed from shock, but she and Paulo had made finding some shelter priority. And here they were.

It was as if the world had ended. The noise was nothing like anything she'd heard before. It sounded non-human. A deafening howl combined with the crashes and bangs of rocks hitting buildings, and rips as everything was lifted from it's foundations. Ash and dust swirled around them, pushing through gaps in the ceiling. Amber scrunched into a ball and covered her eyes, but she could still feel it ripping at her clothes, grit stinging at her bare arms.

There was such a feeling of helplessness and doom that Amber couldn't control it taking her over. As she breather into her arm she felt tears come to her eyes. And suddenly images entered her mind. Images of everyone she loved. Her parents, her uncle, her friends, Alpha Force. But one image stayed there. One person was there, in the front of her mind. And Amber clung onto the image as she sat huddled. Fear didn't matter anymore. The cloud didn't matter anymore. Only holding on. Holding onto something.

And then, seemingly, it ended. The sound dropped, the wind dropped. And there was silence. A beautiful, calming silence. Amber raised her head. The roof above them was ruined, and through a gap, Amber could see the white ash drifting quietly down. She glanced across at Paulo and smiled tentatively. He smiled back.

Amber stood up and stared up at the sky. The ash continued to fall soundlessly. Amber smiled. It was over, and they were still there. It was beautiful.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Amber climbed out of the basement and slowly got to her feet. There was an air of peacefulness about the place. There wasn't a sound except the hush of the last pieces of ash drifting forlornly to the ground. Purace was once again silent, only a small waft of steam now rose from her.

But the surrounding area was completely devastated. Amber stared, horrified at the destruction around her. She felt Paulo come up beside her. She looked up at him and saw his eyes widen as he took in the sight around them.

The town was gone. Blackened and flattened by the flow, nothing was left standing. Trees were reduced to small, none existent stumps in the earth, and the houses that once homed Purace's residents had been reduced to a mess of bricks, wood and unidentifiable rubble. There was nothing left.

Amber felt Paulo walk forwards beside her. He muttered something under his breath in astonishment as he stepped over the debris that had once been the house they had been hiding under. Amber couldn't draw her eyes away from the damage around her. Perhaps it wasn't just the fact that Purace was gone, but the sincerity and stillness that appeared to fill the town. Peacefulness filled with a horrified wail of upset. The fact that the town was gone was just…horrible. Amber had never seen anything like it.

"Amber!" Amber looked up to the sound of Paulo's voice. He was a little away from her, standing on where the road out of town used to be. "Amber" he said again, a little more quietly "We have things to do". The horrific realization of the situation they were in came thundering back to Amber. She looked up at Paulo and walked towards him.

"You're right" she said briskly "Let's find Alex".

* * *

Li pushed her way through the crowds, round to the back of the hospital. She couldn't help but feel incredibly lucky. The pyroclastic flow hadn't quite reached the hospital. Li supposed it hadn't been a particularly fast moving one. The windows at the front of the hospital had been blown out, and the small garden in front of the hospital was gone, but aside from that, the damage was pretty minimal.

And as much as she felt relief and happiness for herself and the others in the hospital, Li was still scared. Amber, Paulo and Alex were all still up near Purace. She just hoped they had been able to find shelter.

She finally managed to reach the back wing of the hospital where most of the patients were being kept. She weaved her way through the trolleys until, finally, she found Hex's. He grinned when he saw her.

"Pretty good eh?" he asked. Li offered a half-hearted smile in return and sat down on the foot of Hex's bed. Hex noticed her mood.

"Look Li, they'll be ok" he said, placing his hand on hers "They're all clever enough to have worked it out". Li shrugged in a general way and looked out the window across to the town. All that remained was a black ruined site. It didn't look nice.

Hex, still sensing her depleted mood looked across at her.

"I'll tell you what" he said "Why don't you help me do some research of my own?" Li looked back at him to see his palmtop open. She couldn't help smiling "What do you want to know?" Hex raised his eyebrows  
"I want to find the idiot who locked me and Amber in that house. A volcano might have erupted, but it doesn't mean he's going to get away with it".

* * *

As they neared the base of Purace, it soon dawned on Paulo that the town was gone, and it was going to take a lot of restoration to get it back on its feet. Something that would probably never happen. It cost too much these days. These people were homeless, all their possessions were gone. They'd have to find another way to get along in life.

As he walked, Paulo felt his foot hit something. He looked down. Lying face down in the blackened earth was a body. They were clearly dead. Upon closer inspection Paulo found that it was a woman. A guilty flow of relief rushed through him. He suddenly felt terribly ashamed. This woman was dead, yet he was reassured that she was, because it wasn't his friend. It was horrifically wrong. Paulo didn't want to dwell on it. He pulled off his jacket and laid it over the woman. No one else should see this.

"Paulo!" Amber's desperate cry rang out across to him. Paulo looked up. Amber was stood several yards away, at the foot of the volcano. It was the research centre. But it was gone. Paulo hurried over towards Amber, dodging around rubble and past the remains of a destroyed car. Amber was stood in what seemed to be where the main room had stood, looking about her miserably.

"Keep looking" Paulo said quietly. Amber didn't reply but she turned around and started walking slowly through the foundations. Paulo turned the other way. The skeleton of a computer lay on the floor, and next to it, a rucksack. One Paulo recognized as Hex's. It was useless now.

A couple of desperate minutes passed as they both searched around what was left of the centre. Out of the corner of his eye, Paulo spotted Amber making her way towards the far end of the centre. There, two walls still stood in the corner, and part of the roof from which ash and dirt was still falling from. Paulo's gaze drifted up to Purace. It was quiet now, the tantrum was over. One burst of anger from the Earth had caused all this…

"Paulo!" Paulo's head whipped round at the sound of Amber's cry. It hadn't been a call for him to see something or go somewhere. It was a cry of desperation. Suddenly he was racing across the rooms to where she was crouched in the far corner. Then he reached her.

Paulo's eyes drifted from Amber's scared, wide-eyed face down to what lay next to her. It was Alex. He looked terrible. He was covered in the black dirt from the cloud and was lying still on the floor almost as if… Paulo refused to believe it. He pushed the thought out of his mind and crouched down next to Amber. He heard her breathing shakily as he reached out, his own hand trembling, and placed two fingers on Alex's neck.

Something thundered through him. Paulo looked up at Amber. Her eyes were wide and questioning. Paulo sighed before speaking.  
"He is alive".


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

Alex opened his eyes before immediately shutting them again. It was bright. After a couple of seconds he risked opening them again slightly. Another couple of seconds allowed him to open them fully.

It was very white. It soon dawned on Alex he was in a hospital. A dull ache thudded through Alex's head and he felt terrible. Then he remembered. The volcano. He had barely turned his head to fully investigate where he was before a loud shout reached him.

"Alex!" Alex stared upwards. Stood next to his bed, with a dressing on her head and a very excitable grin on her face was Li. She grabbed his hand and smiled even more "Alex I'm so happy that-" but she was cut off by another voice. This one was calm and steady.

"Good to see you awake Alex". Alex smiled weakly at Paulo as he stepped up next to Li.

"Yeah" followed another voice, this one American "You better not ever scare us like that again. Playing round volcanoes. Not very clever at all". Alex shifted his gaze to the other side of his bed where Amber was sat in an easy chair, her foot propped up on a stool.

"Hi guys" Alex said quietly. He smiled across at Amber and frowned. "Where's-?" but he stopped as Li moved aside to reveal Hex in the bed next to him.

"Nice of you to join me" Hex grinned.

"Hi Hex" Alex said as he smiled back.

He moved his gaze back to Paulo and the others.

"What happened with Purace and everything?" Amber grimaced in reply and glanced up at Li, who spoke softly.

"The pyroclastic cloud kind of destroyed everything," she said quietly. "The town's gone. How on Earth did you do it Alex?" Alex took the question to mean how he'd managed to survive the cloud and glanced round at his four friend's faces, all quietly watching him. Alex shrugged.

"I hid in the closet". Next to him Amber's eyebrows rose, Paulo looked puzzled and Hex burst out laughing.

"That's the secret is it?" he asked grinning "Hide in a closet?" By now Amber was laughing too, along with Li and even Paulo had cracked a smile. Alex shook his head along with them.

"I didn't have much choice" he replied "And there wasn't much else I could do". He suddenly spoke more seriously "I thought I was dead".

The laughter around him stopped.

"So did we" said Li quietly "When Amber and Paulo found you they phoned and…" she trailed off, unable to say more. Paulo wrapped his arm round her shoulder and continued.

"You were not very well Alex. It is true what Li said, we were all very frightened". No more was needed to be said, and several seconds of quiet contemplation passed through them all.

"So." Said Hex in a suddenly cheerful voice "Now we've got that out of the way, Li and I have an announcement to make". All eyes crossed to the two of them, the somber mood forgotten. As soon as she realized what Hex was talking about, Li's eyes lit up.

"Oooooooh" she said smiling. "Amber, we found out who locked you and Hex in the house". Amber's eyes lit up.

"Who?" she asked incredulously. Hex grinned wickedly.

"While you three were off gallivanting around volcanoes, Li and I did some serious research. This morning a man was arrested for dangerous driving. Apparently he was speeding on the main road to Purace, causing an accident involving five tourists."

"What us?" asked Amber, suddenly excited. Hex nodded as Li continued.

"The man was originally from Bolivia, and he sort of has a violent past".

"What do you mean?" asked Alex. Hex tilted his head as he carried on.

"When he'd realized what he'd done, the man panicked. He knew the only real witnesses to his crime were us, and he sort of got a bit desperate. Did a bit of research, found out where we were staying and so on, and one thing led to another."

"Apparently he confessed this morning when he got arrested" said Li "he admitted what he'd done, but we were never named in any of the reports".

Next to Alex Amber shook her head

"Idiot" she said with disgust. "Hope he gets what's coming to him." Alex silently agreed before something else struck him.

"What about Filipo?"

"Oh" said Amber dismissively "He just wasn't supposed to be here. He's here illegally Apparently he was scared we'd get wind of the fact he wasn't actually a local and report him, that's why he scarped when the volcano shook. Everything just started to freak him out"

"Lucky for me he stayed though" Hex said from his bed "Good to know some people do have a conscience." Amber nodded.

"Tina phoned," she said looking at them all "Checked we were all ok, sent her regards, sympathized, apologized. It was pretty hard to shake her off"

Along the corridor there was a flurry of action and intense talking. Paulo got up and drew the curtain on the far side of Hex's bed, blocking out the commotion.

"What happened to the locals?" asked Alex, staring at the curtain as if he could see through it to the people out there.

"It is not good for them" Paulo answered, "Their homes are destroyed and many of them died".

"They're sending aid in" said Li "But it's going to take a long time". Alex thought of the bright, vibrant town that they had arrived to, and what it had now been reduced to due to the volcano. It was horrible.

A couple of hours later after three checkups and another phone call from Tina, Alpha Force were interrupted from their conversation by a strangled cry that echoed through the corridor.

"Amber" Amber froze. There was no mistaking the voice that reached her. She slowly turned her head to see her uncle striding down the corridor to where the group was gathered. When he reached them he stopped and looked incredulously down at his niece.

"Amber!" he spluttered "What…what…just…" but he couldn't seem to get a sentence out, and Amber saw his eyes drift from Li and Paulo's bandaged head and hands, down to Alex and Hex in their beds and crossing, finally to rest on Amber, her own bandaged foot propped up on the stool. He just shook his head incredulously

"What happened Amber? Why didn't you call? I had to hear it from Garth. I thought…" He managed to stop himself as he looked down at the five teenagers in front of him. Amber grinned sheepishly up at John.

"Hi" she said timidly, raising her hand into a little wave. John Middleton couldn't help but smile.

Ten minutes later, John was sat next to Amber in his own chair, and was shaking his head as they finished telling him about the details of the eruption. They'd deliberately left out the issue of the burning building, knowing that John already had enough to worry about as it were.

"I just don't see," said John after they had finished and he'd gotten over what they had all been through "how I can allow this to continue". Amber opened her mouth horrified.

"Uncle no! You can't"

"Amber you all nearly died out there. How can I let you go on doing things like this?" Amber scowled

"Uncle please! This is all I have! This is all I ever want to do".

"If you don't mind Mr. Middleton" said Li tentatively from the other side of Alex's bed "Quite honestly, we all would've died if we didn't have the skills we've learnt from Alpha Force". Behind her, Hex was nodding enthusiastically, and Amber put her hand over her uncle's.

"Please?" she asked softly "It's everything to me. They're my best friends. I don't want to lose that. I love them" John put his hand to his forehead as if he were struggling deep down on what to say.

The high trill of a mobile phone interrupted them. Paulo frowned before reaching under Alex's bed, grasping the offending mobile, and putting it to his ear.

"Hello?" he said. The rest of the conversation was lost to the others as Paulo nodded along to whatever the person was saying. After a minute or two, Paulo spoke again.

"OK. I will tell him. Goodbye" he hung the phone up and glanced round at the questioning faces, finally coming to rest on Alex's

"Alex it was your mother. About your father…"


	16. Epilouge

Epilogue

The sun slowly sank beneath the horizon. The green hills darkening as shadow engulfed them. Alex stared across the valley. It was good to be home. Back to green hills, cold winds and the warm sense of familiarity. It had been an eventful few weeks, and now it was over.

Alpha Force had bid goodbye to each other only yesterday at the airport. Li was off to Paulo's ranch in Argentina, Amber back to Boston, and Hex and Alex to England. They had been reluctant to part, but with promises of meeting up at Hex's in a few months they'd said goodbye and gone their separate ways.

It was strange though, Alex thought. Since he'd been back, he hadn't really felt like doing much. He'd spent most of his time reflecting, and wondering what he'd be doing if things were different…if things had taken a different turn. It was hard. Life was hard. Alex had learnt that long ago when he'd been washed up on a deserted island with four people he barely knew. Nothing would ever be easy. It was a fact of life. Bad things happened. And he'd certainly had his share of bad happenings over the last few days…

"Something on your mind?" Alex turned to see his father stood a few meters away, staring down at him. Since getting shot his father had, quite miraculously, recovered fairly quickly. Though he was still off work, his father was quite easily getting round the house and was doing a fair share of the housework. When Alex had arrived home his father had been much more concerned about what had happened to his son than to bother about feeling ill.

In response to his dad's question Alex shrugged and continued staring out at the sunset. He felt his father walk over and lower himself to the ground next to him, wincing slightly.

"I was just thinking" said Alex after a few seconds "About how lucky I am. And you" he said turning to face his dad. Alex's dad grinned.

"Don't you think we'll be getting rid of your ugly face any time soon". Alex rolled his eyes at his dad and joined in him laughing.

Together, father and son sat together as the blurry orange sun disappeared and signalled the end of another day.

* * *

**A/N: This fic has been edited since 15/04/08. Thank you to everyone who has reviewed - it is much appreciated - Elle x**


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